When It Snows
by tania15
Summary: Dean unkowingly left Rory a souvenir from their tryst in Miss Patty's dance studio. Now she has to face Lorelai, Yale & her grandparents, while he finally abandons denial & see's exactly what it is he got himself mixed up in as he was pining away for Rory
1. One Letter, Four Sticks

**Author's Note: I am currently reviewing this story. As such, as of January 10th 2011, you might notice some changes in the story. Don't worry, I only intend on fixing grammar errors, and typos. Although I should warn you guys that I've had some formatting problems in the past. There might be certain passages that will be deleted because they were never meant to be posted in the first place. Other than that, we're golden.**

**Summary: **Dean unknowingly left Rory a souvenir from their tryst in Miss Patty's dance studio. Now she has to face Lorelai, Yale & her grandparents, while Dean finally abandons denial & sees exactly what it is he got himself mixed up in as he was pining away for Rory. Rory/Dean pairing, spoilers for everything up until mid-season 5, goes pretty much AU from there - but certain elements of season 6 and 7 might crop up in the sequel. Rated M just to be on the safe side.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gilmore Girls; don't sue me for indulging my imagination.

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**Friday August 13 2004, Stars Hollow (Doose's Market) 3:35 p.m.**

Dean Forester had never been inspired by the written word. He had never dwelled upon the works of famous philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, nor willingly studied Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kyd or Jonson. He had neither taken an interest in the works of such authors as Austen, Bronte, Dickens or Elliot, nor had he ever thrived in terms of other academics. He was, and always had been, in this respect at least, average.

And Dean was comfortable being average.

He would graduate from High School with mediocre grades, and with fates blessing, attend a second rate college. Soon after, with some luck, Dean would settle down into a dead-end job, and live the American dream on minimum wage; overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated.

Dean never believed he could achieve anything more, nor dreamed of it. Or at least - he had believed as much prior to moving to Stars Hollow. All of his predisposed conceptions had quickly been destroyed the day he met Rory Gilmore.

Dean had never dreamed that he could do anything more with his life before her. He never imagined that he, as a single individual, could ever accomplish anything of meaning with his life. The idea had honestly never crossed his mind, not until Rory insisted that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to. She'd always wanted something better for him, always believed that Dean was worth more than what most thought of him. The subject itself had fuelled quite a few of their fights. Rory had encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Unlike his family, Rory had loathed the prospect of him settling for less. Dean knew that his family loved him, and that they only wanted what was best for him. However, on most days, it seemed like Rory was the only one encouraging him to reach higher.

It was funny - ludicrous even, how it only took him _one_ week-end, to completely destroy what was left of his tenuous friendship with Rory.

* * *

For three months Dean worried, uncertain of the status of his relationship with Rory. But finally, he'd received word from Rory earlier that morning. A solemn faced Lorelai had come into Doose's market and handed him the letter. Dean had known that he'd royally screwed up when he heard that Rory had run off to Europe with her grandmother for the summer. However, Dean had unconsciously clung to the hope that the sudden change in Rory"s summer vacation plans had nothing to do with him. A hope that had been crushed into a million pieces. Dean had tried to pry some information out of Lorelai, but his efforts were useless. The oldest Gilmore girl wouldn't utter a word to appease his frazzled nerves.

As his shift ended, Dean quickly discarded his required Doose's apron. Casting weary glances at his surroundings, the young man slid out the area behind the market was secluded, and people rarely wandered there. It should be safe enough for him to read his letter in relative peace. His hands were shaking with dread, as Dean made quick work of the envelope. His eyes scanned the neat writing slowly, enjoying its familiar script.

_Dear Dean,_

_I don't even know where or how I should start a letter like this. I guess the only thing I can do is just write what I think and hope you understand. You were my first in so many different ways and you mean more to me than you could possibly imagine. That night we shared together, the night of the dragon fly's test run was special, and I won't ever forget it. I doubt I could even if I wanted to. I love you and I sincerely doubt I ever stopped doing so. But, the thing is, your married. And no matter how much I love you I can't be that girl, the girl who sleeps with another woman's husband. I can't be that girl Dean, I won't be that girl. No matter how much it pains me to say this, you aren't mine anymore. You haven't been for awhile now, and no matter how we put it, what we did that night wasn't right. And although I don't regret what we did that night, I know it won't ever be right, because you are still married. As such, I've decided that it would be best for everyone involved if I were to remove myself from the equation. I intend on using this time to figure things out, and I hope you`ll do the same. I'm sorry, but it's what I have to do._

_Love you always,_

_Rory Gilmore_

He wiped away his tears in devastation, trying to clear his blurry vision. Dean had known something like this would happen. Rory had never been one for breaking the rules. However, she was right, it had been wrong of them to sleep together when he was clearly married. Ironically, there was only one thing that made him feel guilty about the situation; Rory. She was undoubtedly beating herself up over the entire thing. Dean now realised that he`d pushed her too far, too fast.

Looking one final time at the letter in his hand, he folded it in half and shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans. He'll make sure to take care of the letter as soon as he gets back to the apartment. Although the concept didn't appeal to him, Rory was right. He needed time to figure out his next move.

* * *

**Sunday August 15 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Residence) 4:13 p.m.**

Things weren't supposed to happen this way. _This_ wasn't supposed to happen, at least not to her. How was she going to get through this? Better yet how was she going to tell her mother? Rory just knew her grandparents would hate her after this. Would her mother hate her also? She doubted she could bare it if that were ever to happen. She never imagined a scenario that would make her mother hate her. Then again, she never imagined something like this happening to her.

She had to tell her mom. The only problem was that she didn't want to tell her, she couldn't even bare to imagine the look on her mom's face when she told her the news. But, Rory had to tell her, she needed her mommy. Now more than she ever thought possible. If she could just get her mother to understand, then maybe things wouldn't be so bad. Maybe this could turn out to be good news. Well, at least in a far away future... far, far away.

It had all begun innocently enough; she had started getting sick a few weeks into her trip to Europe with her grandma. She figured it was just the flu. Some bug she had caught along the way through all the different cities her grandma would bring her to. It was really not all that big of a deal, nothing really worth worrying about, and certainly nothing worth telling her grandma about. Thinking back now, Rory was glad she hadn't mentioned anything to her grandmother. Knowing Emily Gilmore, she would have been dragged to the nearest high end clinic in order to discover what diseased ailed her. Rory cringed at the very thought of having only her grandmother present when the doctor would come in to announce the verdict. She sure as hell appreciated that she didn't have to go through that...It wasn't until the beginning of the month of August that she noticed the weight gain.

She was pulled out of her musings rather abruptly when she heard the sound of her mother entering the house. They were supposed to go to Luke's and catch up on all the mother/daughter time that had been squandered away while she had visited Europe with her grandmother. Rory had a feeling that they weren't going to get to the dinner any time soon now.

Taking a deep breath, she picked herself up from her seated position on the pink tiled floor of her bathroom, and stood as confidently as she could. Turning around, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. It wouldn't do to tip her mother off too quickly. Although, her mother _was_ Lorelai Gilmore, knowing when something was wrong in her daughter's life was one of her attributes, annoying as it may be sometimes.

Rory used the sleeve of her shirt in order to wipe away the tears. A difficult feat to accomplish considering the fact that there were more than a few tears still falling out of her clear blue eyes. Her eyes were puffy, her nose was red, and running slightly, not to mention the fact that her hair was a mess. All in all, she looked like a train wreck. It was official; her mother would know that something was wrong the second her eyes would set on her.

"Lucy I'm home!"

Suffice to say that her mother was a rather unique person, although, she did have her normal moments. Rory's eyes darted towards the locked door that kept the elder woman from entering the bathroom, before they returned to the four objects laid out on the counter. She grabbed all four of them and shoved them into the pocket of her loose Yale hoodie. Slowly, she walked towards the white wooden door and exited the bathroom. To say that she felt as she was marching towards the firing squad would not be an understatement of any kind.

Her mother was in the kitchen, although what she was doing in there remained a mystery to Rory. It was a well known fact that Lorelai Gilmore did not cook, just as well known as the fact that anything cooked by Lorelai could be classified as possibly lethal for a person stupid enough to ingest it. Rory hovered at the entrance of the kitchen, not sure if it would be best to wait or just get it over with. After hesitating a few seconds longer, Rory finally gathered enough courage to enter the kitchen and face her fate.

"Hey mom."

"There's my little groundhog. I was wondering where you were hiding."

Her mother had yet to turn around and look at her. For that Rory was grateful, it meant she could stall a little longer.

"Nowhere in particular."

Her tone must have triggered something on Lorelai's radar, because suddenly her mother turned around and took in her dishevelled appearance. Without a word the eldest Gilmore made her way towards the dining table. Once she was seated, Lorelai patted the chair next to her, indicating that her daughter should sit down next to her. Dragging her feet towards her assigned chair, Rory mauled over how to give her mother the news.

"So..." her mother began in a hesitant tone, "Why the sad face?"

She should answer... However, Rory couldn't seem to find the courage to speak up. And so she remained silent.

"Wow, I haven't seen you this sullen since you lost your copy of Oliver Twist when you were six."

Still she remained silent.

"Look, honey I know you haven't exactly been sunshine and daisies the past few weeks, but, if you want me to help your going to have to tell me what's wrong kid."

"I don't know how."

"Okay, then. I guess were playing twenty questions."

Rory didn't answer; she only stared at her mother. Lorelai, having a mind of her own took this as a sign to proceed.

"Okay, let's see question number one. Does this have anything to do with what happened before you left for Europe?"

"Yes."

It was mumbled and lacked a lot of force, but at least she had begun talking again. Lorelai took this as a good sign and continued.

"Does this maybe have anything to do with Dean?"

"Yes"

"Does this have anything to do with that letter you had me give him two weeks ago."

"No."

"Do you still love Dean?"

"Yes, but that has nothing to do with what's wrong right now," her mother gave her the all knowing eyes and Rory conceded, "okay, maybe a little. But, that's not the real problem right now."

"Then sweetie, what is this about? I'm starting to run out of questions and I still have no clue as to what is actually going on with you. Give me a hint will you?"

Rory looked into the loving eyes of her mother and couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last time she ever saw them. She sure as hell knew that her mother would probably never look at her the same way ever again. Rory knew she couldn't do so either. Grasping at whatever courage she possessed Rory reached into the pocket of her sweatshirt and pulled out one of the objects she had placed within. Slowly she laid it out in front of her mother, making sure that the plus sign was clearly visible. Nervous, she awaited for her mother to realize what this all meant.

Lorelai didn't disappoint, within seconds her eyes were wide as saucers and her mouth had practically fallen to the floor. Her mother reached for the slim positive pregnancy test disbelievingly. She examined it closely before looking at her daughter seated next to her. Rory didn't react, nor did she do anything, her eyes still staring determinedly at the floor of their small kitchen.

Hesitantly, Lorelai spoke up, "are you sure this is accurate... Because, you know, sometimes these things are wrong..."

Rory's hand reached into her sweatshirt once more. She placed all three items in front of her mother's gaze. All three were pregnancy tests, none of them were of the same brand, nor did they look similar. All three, however, were without a doubt positive.

"Rory..."

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**Author's Note: **Chapter last edited on September 1st 2013.


	2. Dinning Troubles & Troublesome Thinking

**Author's Note: I am currently reviewing this story. As such, as of January 10th 2011, you might notice some changes in the story. Don't worry, I only intend on fixing grammar errors, and typos. Although I should warn you guys that I've had some formatting problems in the past. There might be certain passages that will be deleted because they were never meant to be posted in the first place. Other than that, we're golden.**

* * *

**Sunday August 15 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:21 p.m.**

"Could you pass the gravy Barbie? I think you've been hogging it long enough," Clara hissed and glared at the bottle blonde woman sitting in front of her.

"Clara!" Bella Forester scolded her daughter's deplorable table manners.

"What?" the teenager glared at everyone seated at the dinner table. "She is."

It was Sunday night, and the Forester's were gathered around the dinning table sharing a family meal. Dean often wondered why Lindsay insisted they attend dinner with his parents each week. He loved his family as much as anyone else, however it wasn't as if these family dinners were an enjoyable affair. Clara had always despised Lindsay with a passion. Upon meeting his wife for the first time, Dean's little sister had insisted that he should break up with _the blonde bimbo_. The situation only worsened as Dean's relationship with Lindsay progressed. On the day of their wedding, Clara had thrown a fit, refusing to change out of her sweat suit and into her bridesmaid dress. Dean, however, couldn't blame his sister. The peach dress, with its abundant ruffles, lace and decorative jewels had looked awful to say the least. Though firmly believed that the large bulbous orange bow adorning the front of the dress, is what really did it in for Clara. Dean had cringed when he first saw it, whereas Lindsay had smirked. At the time, he'd had the feeling that his fiancée had chosen the dress as payback. Clara had grumbled the entire morning of his wedding day. She had even snuck into his dressing room several times to try to talk him out of getting married.

Dean had never heard her cuss so much in his life before.

Once it became apparent that the wedding party wouldn't be deterred, Clara became eerily quiet. They had honestly thought the teenager had tired herself out.

They should have known better.

An hour prior to the wedding, Clara had seemingly disappeared; no one could find her, not even when the procession began. Everyone quickly concluded that his sister was boycotting the wedding. Undeterred, the bride decided that the wedding would go on without her fourth bridesmaid. As Lindsay had planned, everything was going along perfectly…or at the least, all had been going perfectly until the fourth bridesmaid reappeared. Clara had scurried into the procession before anyone could stop her, smirking triumphantly as she followed the other bridesmaids to the altar. There, the entire assembly could clearly see Clara dressed in her designated peach dress, ruffles and orange bow included.

To this day, Dean still wondered whether the assembly cringed more at the sight of Clara's dress, or at her purple hair and matching make-up. The clash between the dress and her hair was absolutely horrible. While the wedding party bit their tongues and scowled, Clara simply smiled throughout the ceremony. Lindsay's pinched gaze would often stray towards her new sister-in-law. Scowling, the bride would glare at the purple stain on her perfect wedding day.

Said stain would simply grin happily and wink in victory.

To say that Clara and Lindsay didn't get along was an understatement. Any reminder of that incident would leave Clara smirking while, on the other hand, Lindsay would unsuccessfully attempt to withhold her unshed tears. His parents would then glare at their only daughter as if she was the devil incarnate. Thinking back on it now, Dean found his sister's antics highly amusing. He also wished he had taken his sisters attempts at heart. If he had, the situation at hand would be entirely different.

If he was being truly honest with himself, he had never wanted to marry Lindsay to begin with. A part of Dean had honestly believed that Rory would never have let things progress beyond the point of no return. He had always known what he wanted, or at least, he known subconsciously. For him, Rory was it. But now, through his own carelessness and stupidity, he'd gotten in over his head, and Dean had no idea how to fix things. No matter how he played things out in his head, someone would always get hurt. To add insult to injury, his relationship with Lindsay had been rocky since their wedding day. Lately, they had been getting into fights for no understandable reason. Upon more than one occasion Dean had noticed that Lindsay's feelings seemed somewhat staged. However, he shrugged the entire notion off as ludicrous. Why would anyone pretend to be angry or hurt for that matter? Dean had resolved that his double shifts were finally catching up with him.

Yet at the end of the day, none of this changed the fact that he wanted a divorce, but couldn't bring himself to come forward with his desire. As awful as it may sound, Lindsay had nothing to do with his hesitance. She wasn't the reason he couldn't bring himself to file for divorce - his parents were. They loved Lindsay, and he had no idea how to extract himself from the situation without hurting them. They were both aware of the frequent fights his wife seemed keen on having. After all, he spent at least half of his week sleeping over at the family house. However, his parents always encouraged him to patch things up, saying things would get better soon.

Dean didn't want things to get better; he just wanted them to be over.

* * *

**Monday August 16 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Residence) 10:07 a.m.**

Her baby was pregnant...

Well, technically speaking her nineteen year old daughter was pregnant, but the point was still valid. The entire situation was unexpected to say the least and left Lorelai not knowing how to act anymore. On one hand, she herself knew how it felt to be a pregnant teenager and sympathized with her daughter. On the other hand, the voices in her head were screaming bloody murder. How could Rory get herself in this situation? What was her daughter going to do now? And what was she, Lorelai Gilmore going to do?

Last night had to have been one of the worst nights of her life. Finding out that Rory was pregnant was one of the most horrible experiences she'd ever had. Now, everything would change. All because Dean couldn't keep it in his pants, or within his marriage. Lorelai wondered if she had an axe of some sort in her garage. The idea of decapitating Dean Forester sounded rather appealing. It would have to be a very dull one too. As the boy had pointed out years ago, Lorelai wouldn't want his demise to be quick and painless. Although, killing the father of her grandchild might not be such a good idea. The prison time alone would be an unsavoury consequence.

Still, the idea held a certain appeal...

Unfortunately, the thirty six year old women knew very well that decapitation was not an option. However, she could neuter the boy. There'd be no chance of a repeat offence if he didn't have the gear to produce one. Sighing in exasperation Lorelai decided to focus on the things she actually could do, rather than to fantasize about exacting revenge on the guilty party. After spending nearly an hour comforting her sobbing daughter, Lorelai had finally managed to lead Rory into her room. It only took the nineteen year old a few minutes to succumb to the allure of sleep. The oldest Gilmore had suspected that her daughter hadn't been getting any sleep. Luckily, Rory seemed to be making up for it now. The girl hadn't woken or stirred the entire night, and it looked as if she was going to spend a good part of today in the same fashion.

Ultimately, Lorelai decided that she would handle the situation in an understanding way. She knew from personal experience that the last thing Rory needed right now was an obnoxious mother breathing down her neck, judging her with every withering glare. Lorelai had hoped that something like this would never happen to her daughter, well, at least not until she was ready. However, before Rory could even walk, she had made herself a promise. Lorelai had decided that she would be supportive, caring and sympathetic if Rory would ever have the misfortune to find herself facing a teen pregnancy. Thankfully, her daughter's situation is somewhat more promising than hers had been. Rory was nineteen; she had graduated high school, and was currently attending an Ivy League college. Although her status at Yale may come in question as news of her condition reaches the board of admissions, Rory still had more options available to her than Lorelai had. Nonetheless, as important as Yale is, it was not the most pressing matter at the moment. Lorelai could only shudder to think what would happen when news reached the elder Gilmores.

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**Author's Note: **Chapter last edited on September 1st 2013.


	3. The Talk

**Author's Note: I am currently reviewing this story. As such, as of January 10th 2011, you might notice some changes in the story. Don't worry, I only intend on fixing grammar errors, and typos. Although I should warn you guys that I've had some formatting problems in the past. There might be certain passages that will be deleted because they were never meant to be posted in the first place. Other than that, we're golden.**

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**Tuesday August 17 2004, Stars Hollow, Gilmore Residence 10:47 a.m.**

Things had been going well in the Gilmore residence, despite the slight feeling of awkwardness that loomed between the pair. Her mother had spent the past last two days acting as if nothing had changed. In a sense, it was as if Rory never announced her pregnancy. Rory was all too aware of the fact that her mother was dying to talk about the situation. Yet, to Rory's relief, Lorelai refrained from asking any questions. The teenager appreciated the effort her mother was putting into giving her some time and space to think. After all, that's how they always figured things out. Rory would spend some time contemplating a conundrum and then would ask her mother for advise when she was ready.

After much thought, Rory finally decided to put Lorelai out of her misery. Besides, she'd already thought over the main points and was more than ready for some additional input. Sighing, Rory picked up the remote and pressed pause on Willy Wonka just as the Umpa Lumpas made their appearance.

"Hey! I want to see the Umpa Lumpas! Put that back on, you of all people should know by now that to interrupt an Umpa Lumpa is blasphemy!"

Rolling her eyes she proceeded. "Mom, I think it's time we talked."

The incredulous scowl Lorelai had been sporting moments earlier disappeared. "Oh thank God! I thought we were going to avoid the subject for the rest of week, which is by the way a very bad idea. After all, you need to go and get checked out by an actual doctor at some point."

"I know mom, but right now I just want to relax and only worry about school."

"Speaking of Yale, how are we going to handle that? I mean, you are keeping it...Right?"

The youngest Gilmore looked abashed for a few seconds. "How could you say that? Of course I'm keeping it."

"Well, how should I know? It's not like we've actually talked about this now have we?"

Lorelai gave Rory her patented, _you know I'm right look,_ to which Rory responded by another pronounced eye roll.

"Now, about school, you still haven't answered my question missy."

"Well, I guess I could make it through most, if not all of the fall semester. I mean, it doesn't start until August the twenty-third. It might be cutting it close, but I think I can make it all the way to December fourth, when finals end. But, I don't think I'll be able to do the winter semester. It doesn't start until the end of January, and, if my math is right, I'll have a newborn baby in my hands by then. This thing inside of me should be coming out around January."

"January? I'll be a grandmother by January?"

"Yeah, it should be due sometime in the month of January. Why?"

"Nothing, it's just so soon. I didn't think it would be so soon. I mean we're almost finished with the month of August right now. So technically speaking I should be a grandma in five months."

"Yep."

"Whoa…Head rush."

"Tell me about it."

"So what does Dean have to say about all of this? I mean knocking up the other woman must be one of the big don'ts when you're having an affair."

"MOM!"

"What! It's not like you've filled me in on the whole affair with Dean. Sorry, bad choice of words, I know. But, you do get my point don't you? I mean for all I know you two could still be going at it, and I would be none the wiser, because my daughter hasn't kept me informed of the situation."

Rory glared at her mother.

"Well, it's true!" Lorelai interjected feebly.

"Dean hasn't commented on this pregnancy nor does he know about it, because I put an end to things with him in the letter I asked you to give him. I told him that... that night was special and...that I wasn't sorry that it happened. But he's married, and... he has to figure out his life. So I was going to make it easier for him by taking myself out of the mix. Truth is, I haven't seen him since I left for Europe."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, oh…"

Both Gilmore Girls were quiet and demure for a few seconds before Lorelai realised something.

"Wait a minute, I just figured something out. My future grandchild was conceived on the night of the Dragon fly's test run. How does that work? I mean you told me you guys used a condom. Did it brake or do they just not make those things the way they used to?"

Rory avoided meeting her mother's gaze. She quickly mumbled under her breath "I don't know."

"Rory..." she pretended not to hear her mom saying her name in that sing song voice of hers."Rory..." Still, Lorelai was ignored. The eldest Gilmore girl, turned towards her daughter with a knowing smirk upon her face. "Sweetie, you are my spawn. I know when you're hiding something from me. Come now little grasshopper, give mommy the dirt."

"I... might have met up with Dean the day after... you know... Just to talk. And, things... might have... you know... escalated."

"Oh you might have met with Dean..." Lorelai was using air quotes and extreme sarcasms at this point. "Just like, you might be pregnant..." Lorelai cocked her left eyebrow, "through immaculate conception." She added for extra effect with the cat that ate the canary look on her face.

Rory pouted slightly "Fine, I give. I did meet up with him. But, just to talk."

"So, what happened to just talking?"

"He walked in... and next thing I know I'm having sex on an Al Gilbert record... and I guess with everything we just kind of forgot about using a condom. I swear I didn't even think about it until a few weeks ago when I started puking my guts out."

The youngest of the Gilmore girls babbled out, clearly nervous of her mother's reaction. Rory hoped her mom wouldn't be too angry at her stupidity. She still couldn't believe she had forgotten to make sure Dean was wearing a condom before she let him in. Looking at Lorelai, Rory could tell that something was nagging at her mother.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry, it's just I have one teeny tiny question."

"What?"

"Al Gilbert? Where the hell were you, auditioning for a Lockwood & Lamont motion picture? I sure as hell hope not! Cause sweetie, if there's one thing you should have learned by now, it's that tap shoes and Gilmores do not play well together. Has the incident at the Stars Hollow dance fair of '89 taught you nothing?"

"Hey! I was four. How was I supposed to know that the lace on my left shoe had become too loose? Besides, it's not like I was aiming at Jamie Evans or anything. It just sort of happened on its own. And if you set aside the fact that the doctors had to install a metal jaw, the entire thing really wasn't as bad as you make it out to be. There was barely any blood. But seriously you have got to be kidding me? I mean, I just told you that we forgot the condom, and all you focus on is the Al Gilbert record?"

Rory was bewildered, her mother really was crazy. Lorelai just shrugged her shoulders.

"What? It's a legitimate question. Besides, I did the same thing when I was sixteen. How do you think you got here?"

Rory appeared to be beyond annoyed with her mother, yet she answered the question all the same.

"We were at Miss Patty's"

"Huh…" Lorelai looked at her daughter, seemingly sizing her up.

"I know, I know, Miss Patty would be so proud. Lane already told me that one," Rory said throwing her hands up in the air.

"Well, yeah... I mean it is Miss Patty. But, I was more interested in finding out how you managed not to get any splinters on that behind of yours while you were...indisposed."

Rory gave her mother the evil glare.

"Okay, okay, I get it. No inappropriate jokes, although, the entire notion should be illegal. I mean, you did have sex on hardwood." Rory's eyes widened and her cheeks flooded with colour.

"Can we please get back to a more appropriate subject?" Lorelai grinned mischievously as she noted the slightly elevated pitch of her daughter's voice.

"Please." Rory pleaded, pulling out her puppy eyes. Pouting momentarily at her, the woman decided to return her attentions to a more serious matter. Although she would much rather continue with their slight banter. It made the experience feel less real, almost as if the pregnancy did not exist and this was just any other inconsequential conversation.

"Fine. So when are you going to tell Dean?"

Deer caught in front of the headlights thy look is Rory.

"On second thought..."

"Rory, come on. You've got to tell him! I mean, he is the one that put it there in the first place."

"MOM!"

"Okay, crude, I know. But, he's going to find out when you start showing. You're already almost four months along, so it shouldn't be long now before your stomach begins expanding. It's not really noticeable now, but I`m pretty sure that your shirt was looser the last time I saw you in it. All in all, it shouldn't be long before people start mistaking you for a beached whale."

Rory looked at her mother appalled "Why thank you, Anya."

"What can I say dear? Your mommy aims to please." Rory only rolled her eyes, before replying.

"Well actually, the baby was conceived on May second, so that means that I'm presently closer to being nineteen weeks along by now."

"You see, you can't hide that thing forever. It probably has all of its appendages by now."

Rory sighs "I know, I know, and I don't plan on keeping it a secret for long."

"Good, so when are you telling Dean?"

"I'm not."

"Rory."

"Look, mom, he's married, okay. I can't just tell him this. If I do, then he'll have to choose between his kid and his wife. I don't want that, okay. If I tell him this it can only go two ways, and both of them would be bad. I tell him…and he either decides to tell Lindsay, which causes everything to go to hell, or he decides to not acknowledge our child. Either way it's bad for the baby. I don't want my kid to be known as the kid who broke up a marriage, and I sure as hell don't want to tell it that its father refuses to acknowledge its existence. I don't want to have to do that mom. I just want it to be happy, can you understand that?"

Rory was crying by now. Lorelai could see that her daughter wasn't happy with the decision she had made, but Rory was right. As long as Dean was married, he wouldn't be a valid option…too much drama. She just wasn't sure how Rory would keep Dean from figuring out that he was going to be a daddy. It's not like Rory slept around or had a boyfriend.

"I get it."

"So... you won't say anything?"

"No, kiddo. I won't say anything. But, how are you going to keep this from him? He's not an idiot. When word gets out, he is going to do the math you know. And unless you make up some crazy lie about a fling with some random guy you met in Europe, he'll be aware that there aren't that many contenders for the baby's father."

"I know, but, luckily we don't have to worry about that for a while yet."

"So..." Her mother said. "You hungry?"

"God, yes! I can't seem to eat enough lately."

"Well that's pregnancy for you. Do you want to go order some take out?"

"Yes."

The youngest Gilmore set about finding their ever elusive phone. Rory didn't know why she bothered looking around the living room; they'd probably just left it in the freezer again. Looking back at her mother as she made her way into the kitchen, the girl noticed a mischievous grin upon the woman's face.

"What's so funny mom?"

"An Al Gilbert Record, really?"

"Mom!" The nineteen year old whined.

"Well, I suppose it's better than were your dad and I made you. I mean balconies are fine and all, but they are a bit cold in the middle of the winter."

Dumbfounded Rory scrutinized her mother "A balcony? I was made on a balcony? You never told me that!"

"Just like I never told you that the Jenkins's family living next door had a clear view of the entire show."

Scrunching her nose in disgust, Rory suddenly didn't really feel like eating anymore.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Chapter last reviewed on September 1st 2013.


	4. Of Luke's & Lane's

**Author's Note: I am currently reviewing this story. As such, as of January 10th 2011, you might notice some changes in the story. Don't worry, I only intend on fixing grammar errors, and typos. Although I should warn you guys that I've had some formatting problems in the past. There might be certain passages that will be deleted because they were never meant to be posted in the first place. Other than that, we're golden.**

* * *

**Wednesday August 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Luke's Dinner) 12:19 p.m. **

They had been on their way to Luke's when it hit Rory like a ton of bricks. She had been fine earlier in the morning, honestly. But, suddenly all she wanted to do was find the first available bathroom and empty the contents of her stomach. When you thought about it, it was quite odd in retrospect. With everything that had happened this morning, Rory hadn't had the chance to eat anything yet. Was it possible to throw up on an empty stomach? Rory would have to do some research on that one. To make matters worse she seemed to be experiencing the worst dizzy spell ever. Things weren't going well for Rory lately, silently she wondered if it was some sort of punishment. Her mother looked worried. But then again, Rory would bet every book she owned that her complexion didn't look so healthy at that particular moment. Finally, they reached the town square, and the entrance of Luke's Dinner was clearly visible at this point. Rory felt so dizzy and was certain she would faint if she didn't sit down soon. When they opened the door to the dinner, Rory felt like she had reached Heaven on earth. Would it be an exaggeration for her to say that she could hear the sound of a harp playing in the background? Probably…although she couldn't bring herself to care all that much right now…she had her sights set on a chair.

"Anything you want is on me. Pie, cake, pancakes, pan pie, cake pan, panacockin. Say the word or make one up. It's yours."

All she wanted was that chair. The edges of her vision were fuzzy by now. Rory was sure that if she wanted to keep her pregnancy under wraps for a few weeks longer, fainting in the middle of the dinner wouldn't be a good idea for the day. The moment she sat down was a glorious one!

The dizziness wasn't so bad when she was seated, and her vision seemed to be recovering focus. Relieved, the youngest Gilmore couldn't help but exalt her praise.

"Chair feels good."

Okay, so not exactly the smartest thing she'd ever said. But she was pregnant, nauseous, and dizzy. If anything, she deserved a break, and she believed she could live quite easily with a few momentary bouts of stupidity. As long as they didn't embarrass her, that is.

"Yeah, yeah. A chair does feel good," her mother soothed her in a calming voice.

Rory needed something to drink, something that would help to wash down the nausea that was plaguing her. Slowly she turned her head towards her mother; the less she moved right now, the better. "I think a root beer might be good." She said.

Her mother jumped on that the second the words left her mouth. Lorelai was obviously worried about her daughter's welfare at the moment.

"Root beer sounds good!"

Suddenly Luke popped out of nowhere. Rory was sure at the moment that he was trying to scare the puke out of her, and that it was all part of some elaborate ploy to make her admit that she was pregnant. Paranoid….maybe…but right now it felt like the world was out to get her, and Rory was in no mood to be rational.

"It's on the house, so go crazy."

Then again, the man did have his virtues.

"Luke!"

Besides, her mom seemed so happy to see him that Rory couldn't hold a grudge against the man. Although, if it turned out that he really was trying to reveal her pregnancy, all bets were off.

"Hey," he said to her mother. "Hi, Rory. Welcome back." It sure took him long enough to acknowledge her presence. Men... what creeps! They notice their girlfriend immediately, but when it comes to said girlfriend's pregnant teenage daughter, you could wait until sundown for a simple hello. Oh wait, he doesn't know that she's pregnant...or does he? Exactly how much has her mother been telling Luke on the phone?

"Thanks." She replied.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

Her eyebrow rose questioningly, as she looked at her mother with suspicion clouding her gaze.

"You know, pale's the new tan."

Well at least her mother was trying to cover for her, which probably meant that good old Luke didn't know anything about her current condition. Now that her mother had taken Luke's attention off of her pale complexion, the two started chatting like the lovebirds they now were.

"So, you're here." Lorelai smacked him on the chest. "You're not a mirage."

"I told you I was coming back."

"But you lied to me repeatedly for weeks, so your credibility's been shattered."

"I know. It's been seven weeks."

"Seven weeks"

"You know, I just remembered - I have an errand to run."

"Oh, yeah?"

"I've got to go to the pharmacy. I'm gonna go now." Luke finally returned his attention to her long enough to say, "Lane's here. She'll bring you your root beer. Hey, Lane, I've got to run down to the pharmacy! Got an errand."

"Okay!" Rory heard her best friend call out.

"So… I'll be back in a bit."

As he exited, he glanced back at her mother one last time before hurrying off. Before Rory could question the suspicious behaviour Lane rushed up to their table.

"Rory?"

"Hey, you!"

It did feel good to see her best friend again; Rory could be excited about that at least.

"You're back!" Looking at Rory's mother Lane exclaimed, "Our girl's back!"

"I know."

"We need to consult," Lane told her.

"Oh, sounds serious."

"I'm in a quandary."

"Other people's quandaries. I'm all ears."

Out of the corner of her eye Rory saw her mom looking longingly towards where Luke had disappeared a few seconds ago. Suddenly, her mom addressed her. "Hey, you know, I just remembered - I have to go to Doose's to... pick something up. You need a banana or anything?"

Ah, so code word for come and get me equaled pharmacy.

"I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

Her mother seemed torn between making sure she was fine and going after Luke. Rory decided to make it easy on her. "Yeah, I'm consulting on a quandary. Go."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

"So, my quandary - are you ready? And I need honesty."

"Shoot."

"Am I in love with Zach?"

Okay, that sure as hell got her attention. "What?"

"I need to know if you think I'm in love with Zach, 'cause a dirty trollop suggested it, and they're generally reliable about these things."

"A dirty trollop?"

"She said something to me and gave me this sort of knowing, worldly look that seemed to suggest I was acting in a way that said I have a thing for Zach, or she was hitting on me. I just need to know your thought on this."

She just stared at Lane, not knowing what to say. Honestly, she was a bit preoccupied with her pregnancy at the moment. She could really use some insight at the moment.

"Hey. Are you listening?"

She looked at her best friend apologetically."Sorry, I'm not. I don't mean to, it's just I got a major issue on my mind right now."

Lane looked intrigued."What? What's going on?"

Looking around at the crowded dinner, Rory replied, "Could we talk somewhere a little more private, this isn't something that I want getting around yet."

"That bad?"

Rory sighed.

"I get off in fifteen; we'll go back to my place." Lane replied in a concerned tone.

* * *

**Wednesday August 25, Stars Hollow (Lane's apartment) 12:49 p.m.**

"You're what!" Lane asked disbelievingly.

"Pregnant..."

"Oh my God."

"I know! I have sex with Dean twice and now I have a bun in my oven. What am I going to do? I sure as hell can't tell him that he left me a souvenir from our time in Miss Patty's dance studio. I mean, Lane, he's married. I just... I just don't know what to do. I never thought I would be in a situation like this."

"I can't believe you let me go on about my maybe crush on Zack when you were dealing with _this._"

"Lane..."

"Sorry, it's just, my problem seems so stupid and insignificant right now."

She threw her hands up in despair, before plonking down on the bed next to Lane. Her hands came to clutch at her head, seemingly trying to protect herself from the situation. "What am I going to do?" Rory whimpered.

"Are you sure you can't just tell him, I mean it is his baby we're talking about."

"Oh, I'm sure Lindsay will just love that."

"Yeah, but wasn't he going to end things with her."

"That's what he said he would do. But, it's been almost four months Lane and he's still with her. I can't tell him, I just can't, at least for now... How am I going to fix this?"

Rory complained loudly, worming her way underneath the covers on Lane's bed and hiding her head underneath one of the many throw pillows. Lane patted the quilted mound on her bed hoping to give Rory some kind of comfort, however, it wasn't working. Both teenagers remained there for quite some time, silent, neither one certain as how to go about fixing the situation.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last updated September 1st 2013


	5. Glass Slippers & Yale

**Author's Note: I am currently reviewing this story. As such, as of January 10th 2011, you might notice some changes in the story. Don't worry, I only intend on fixing grammar errors, and typos. Although I should warn you guys that I've had some formatting problems in the past. There might be certain passages that will be deleted because they were never meant to be posted in the first place. Other than that, we're golden.**

* * *

**Saturday August 28 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore residence) 9:52 a.m.**

Friday night dinner had come and gone. Rory had spent the entire night on eggshells, not certain if she should just come clean to her grandparents about her pregnancy then and there. She didn't like keeping this from them; however, her mother had been right in advising her to wait. It seemed that the fight between the elder Gilmore's had now reached comically epic proportions. Grandma was living alone in that house of theirs while grandpa was relegated to the pool house with Jives. It may be selfish, but Rory preferred to kill two birds with one stone. Therefore, she decided to wait until both grandparents were together in the same room before dropping the news. Rory had also taken the time to make an appointment with her school counsellor for the first day of classes. Hopefully, they would be able to figure out a way for her to graduate while she was taking care of a baby. Rory was set to return to school the following morning; unfortunately things were not going as well as she had planned.

"Are you all packed up?"

The youngest of the Gilmore girls was presently standing in their living room, going over all of her necessities when her mother walked in from the kitchen. The place was a mess by now, clothes hanging off of furniture, beauty products gathered among various surfaces, books piled up next to the monkey lamp. It was a war zone to say the least. Then again, the youngest Gilmore was moving back to Yale for the next few months. Rory looked at her mother in exasperation before validating the woman's question with an answer.

"Does it look like anything's packed?"

Lorelai's gaze swept through the disaster that was now her living room before her eyes once again landed on her daughter. With a cheeky smile she answered in a voice filled with sarcasm. "Mmm... I think I'm going to go with no."

Rory just looked at her mother as if the woman had suddenly grown a second head. Soon though, anger set in, and it was rather easy to see. Her eyes were glaring at her mother determined as her arms crossed over her chest.

"What? That wasn't the right answer?" Lorelai said in an innocent tone.

"Argh!" Rory replied as she stamped her foot and walked off in a huff.

"Hormones." Lorelai mumbled as she looked around her living room once more.

"I heard that!" Rory's voice resounded from the confines of her room.

"Sweetie, maybe you should take a break," Lorelai offered as advice. Her daughter had been getting crankier and crankier all morning long, and the stress caused by this bout of crankiness probably wasn't doing the baby any good. Rory stamped out of her room and marched towards her mother.

"I can't take a break; I have to be packed for tomorrow morning if I want everything done before my first class on Monday."

"Look, we got all day to finish this, okay. Taking one hour to go eat lunch at Luke's won't be the end of the world. Besides, you're probably starving by now."

Her mother smiled at her conspiringly, and Rory soon found her defences fading. She looked around the room in defeat with a pout set upon her lips. Looking back at her mother she replied, "One hour, that's it. After that you're helping me finish."

Once Rory received a nod from her mother, they went on their way.

* * *

**Saturday August 28 2004, Stars Hollow (Luke's) 10:36 a.m.**

Rory knew that she and her mother often talked endlessly about pointless and stupid subjects…she was her mother's daughter after all. It was no secret that the Gilmore girls had an arsenal of odd yet amusing takes on the simple things in life. Yet, there always seemed to be some deeper meaning to the whole debacle. However, this time Rory was at a lost as to what that deeper meaning was. Their conversation could be overheard quite easily as they entered Luke's.

"Okay, but think about it. Why do we need the word 'potty'? Is it really that much harder for a kid to learn the word "bathroom"?"

"I don't know," the youngest Gilmore answered as they seated themselves at the nearest available table. Fortunately, the nausea hadn't hit Rory yet today, and she hoped it wouldn't. Her mom continued on without pause.

"'Timmy, do you have to go potty?' Or 'Timmy, do you have to go to the bathroom?' See? Interchangeable."

"Not exactly interchangeable."

"How are they not interchangeable?"

"To go potty is an action. To go to the bathroom is to go into a specific place."

"I hate the word 'potty.'"

"Well, what did you teach me to say?"

"Bathroom."

"You did?"

"Yes, of course."

"I'm 2, I come up to you and I say, 'Mommy, Mommy, I have to go to the –'"

"The room where legends die."

It was at this particular moment that Luke, clueless as he was, decided to come and greet them.

"What can I get you?"

"A foster home."

"You'll thank me one day." It was clear that her mother was finished with her for the moment as she offered a sexy smile to Luke "Hi," Lorelai said sweetly.

"I'm working."

Ah, poor oblivious Luke. He really had a lot left to learn on how to handle her mother.

"Come on. This is the beginning of a relationship. You're supposed to act stupid."

"I'll do the chicken dance on my lunch break." That being said Luke turned his attention to the only sane Gilmore in the room. "Heading back to school?"

"Yeah, sophomore year," Rory replied.

"Anything you want - on the house."

Her mother detested being ignored. With her smile a tad too bright to be natural, Lorelai addressed Luke once more. "I can't believe you won't flirt with me in front of my daughter! She's going to think there's something wrong with me."

"Please. I got that confirmation letter a long time ago. Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and half bacon, half sausage."

"I'll have the same, and put it on her tab."

"You get your own tab."

"Oh, thank God you don't have a Latin accent, or you'd be completely irresistible," her mother said in a rather sarcastic tone.

"Coffee will be ready in a minute."

As Luke backed away from them, he signalled for Lorelai to follow him. Giving Rory a cheeky smile, she said, "Be back in a second." After which she walks over to the counter where Luke is standing behind the register writing in his ledger book.

"You gestured?"

Trying to remain inconspicuous, he mumbled, "Those jeans are really working for you." His eyes stared with determination at his book.

"Yeah?"

"They're working for me, too."

"You're flirting with me."

"Something like that."

"Finally! Do it some more."

"Your shoes work well with that - shirt."

"Gee, Carson thanks."

"That's all I can do right now. People are watching."

"Okay."

"But tonight I will give you my extremely positive views on other aspects of your being," he said he a rather suggestive tone.

"Tonight?"

"Are you free?"

"Yeah, I'm free."

"Good. 7:30."

"What are we going to do?"

"I've got some thoughts."

"Alright, but no taking me to an art museum after hours and then to an empty Hollywood bowl where you give me a pair of diamond earrings that you bought with your college money when all the time you're really in love with your best friend, the drummer, who's posing as our driver for the evening."

"...Okay…I'll think of something else."

"So, what do we say?"

"Say?"

"To people? To the town? Do we tell them we're dating?"

"I don't know. Do we?"

"I don't know. I guess we could keep it quiet for a while."

"We could - if that's what you want."

"No, that's not what I want."

"Why don't we just play it by ear?"

"Yeah, yeah. People will know when they know."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Okay, so, 7:30?"

"7:30."

"Are you going to watch me walk away?"

"Yeah."

"I'll add a little jaunt to it for you."

Strutting back to Rory she glanced back at him briefly before sitting.

"What was that all about?" Rory asked.

"We were just talking about our date for tonight."

"A real date? Finally!"

"Yeah, finally."

"What are you going to wear?"

"Mmm, glass slippers, a backwards baseball cap..."

"…and nothing else."

"Exactly."

"I'm very excited."

"Me too. Hey, have you talked to..."

"No."

"Do you think you're going to before you..."

Rory only shook her head in order to put an end to the topic as Luke walked up to them arms laded with full plates.

"Oh, food! Thank God," her mother exclaimed.

"Hot plates."

"See? He called me 'hot plates.' He so likes me," Lorelai pitched in.

"Jeez," the dinner man muttered as he walked away.

* * *

**Sunday August 29 2004, Yale Courtyard (Outside Rory's dorm) 8:00 a.m.**

Rory was presently directing two moving men carrying a sofa into her dorm lobby. She had arrived at Yale for her sophomore year only a few minutes ago. She turned to addresses the movers, "Careful. If you stain that, my grandmother will hunt you down and kill you. I wish that I was kidding. I'll get the door."

"Rory!"

Turning around she recognized Marty as he made his way towards her.

"Marty, hi! It's nice to see you!" They pair hugged. "So, are you living here?"

"I'm living here."

"That's great. So am I." At this point she noticed the impatient movers and rectified the situation. "Oh, sorry. I have to let these guys in. So, how was your summer?"

"I met Nicole Richie, and then spent the next six weeks showering."

"It should be open," she said to the movers.

"Door's locked," one of them replied after trying the knob.

"Oh, really? Sorry. I thought that Paris would be here already."

"Nice room," Marty commented as they entered what would be her dorm room for the next semester.

The movers placed the sofa down and exited as swiftly as they had entered.

"I can't believe I beat Paris here. I mean, normally, she would want to get dibs on the best room first and set up the furniture exactly the way she wants it."

"Maybe she's just late."

"Paris is never late." Curious, Rory pulled out her cell phone and dialled the number she knew by heart. "Paris, hey, it's Rory."

"Rory. Hello."

"I'm in our room, and I was just wondering how I could have beaten you here."

"I'll be there later."

"Are you okay? You sound funny."

"Asher's dead."

"What?" That was probably the last thing Rory expected from her friend.

"He died two weeks ago in Oxford."

"Oh. Paris, I'm sorry. How?"

"Heart attack. It was quick."

"Heart attack?"

"Yes."

"Um...it wasn't during, um...was it?"

"No, Rory. This great man was not brought down by my vagina, okay?"

"Okay. Sorry. I just…that's terrible."

"He was teaching a Shakespeare class, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. He was doing Puck, and then suddenly he wasn't."

"Oh, wow."

"And the class was so into his reading, they didn't even get it. They thought he was acting. It was Dick Shawn all over again."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in his flat trying to get his effects squared away, and, of course, his family is acting like spoiled children. All they care about is what they get. If I have to moderate one more argument about the Chippendale desk, I'm going to freak out. And the lawyer handling his affairs is a moron, and don't even get me started on the funeral. He wanted to be cremated, but if you had seen how filthy that crematorium was…so I shipped him to Cambridge, which apparently is known for its cremation facilities. That was a transportation nightmare, and, of course his daughter was upset with the move, but where was she at Thanksgiving, huh?"

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No. Thanks...I'm sad."

"I know."

"Bye."

"Bye." Rory closed her cell phone, her face marred with, before turning to Marty. "Asher Fleming died."

"In bed?"

"No," she replied quizzically

"Damn…I lost the pool." Rory only responded to him with the rolling of her eyes.

"Well, I've got a meeting with the school counsellor in twenty, so I'll see you later." With that she ushered Marty out of the dorm and exited quickly behind him.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Chapter last edited September 1st 2013.


	6. All Fear Sweets

**Author's Note: I am currently reviewing this story. As such, as of January 10th 2011, you might notice some changes in the story. Don't worry, I only intend on fixing grammar errors, and typos. Although I should warn you guys that I've had some formatting problems in the past. There might be certain passages that will be deleted because they were never meant to be posted in the first place. Other than that, we're golden.**

* * *

**Sunday August 29 2004, Yale (School Counsellor office) 8:30 a.m.**

The waiting room was surprisingly empty. Rory had thought that the place would be swarming with students due to the beginning of classes. Obviously she had misjudged the circumstances. Although thankful that the office wasn't busy, she was jumpy; Rory couldn't seem to sit still in the plush old fashioned chaise. The ambience that surrounded the room didn't help soothe her anxiety. The marbled floor, the highly expensive furniture, the wooden paneling all seemed to be mocking her for her stupidity. But, none more so than the large Doric columns that stood guard on either side the large door. The same large door, wood crafted with minute details, would lead her to her executioner.

"Rory Gilmore?" The secretary sitting at the front desk called out her name. Snapping out of her reverie, Rory shakily nodded her head to indicate that she indeed knew her own name. The middle aged woman with the golden rimmed glasses only spared her a brief glance before returning to the paperwork lying on her desk. In a bleak and uninterested tone the woman stated, "The counsellor will see you now."

Feeling as though the woman had just sentenced her to a beheading, Rory stood up slowly on unsteady legs. Hesitantly, she made her way towards the big, brown wooden door.

This was the moment she had been waiting for, the moment that would define the rest of her academic career: her meeting with the all knowing school counsellor. In this meeting she would discover her fate. Rory wondered momentarily if Yale pitch forked students who got knocked up while attending the Ivy League school. Naturally, she was rather nervous. Would they allow her to come back if she took a sabbatical of some sort? Would she ever get her diplomat? Now, however, was not the time to dwell on these troublesome thoughts. She would find out as soon as she crossed the threshold that separated her from the man who held her future in his hands.

Taking a deep breath, her hand reached for the handle and twisted it open. Slowly she stepped inside the luxurious room. Unbidden her eyes looked directly at the large fancy desk positioned at the very end of the room. Two small plush chairs were placed in front of the desk for the visitors to occupy. However, Rory was more interested with the large leather chair that stood behind the desk, the one in which the counsellor sat in. Rory wanted to see his face, unfortunately, the back of the chair faced her, and no sign of the man seated within it could be seen from this vantage point. Closing the big wooden door slowly Rory cautiously approached the desk. Being so nervous made her jump in fright when the chair behind the desk suddenly swerved to face her. However, her fright was soon replaced by surprise as she got a good look of its occupant. There, seated in front of her was a young man with curly dark brown hair, blue eyes and a dimpled chin. He couldn't be any older than twenty three years old, yet apparently he was the school's counsellor. Dumbstruck, the young woman had no idea how to proceed. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about that much longer.

Looking at the file in his hands the young man read out her name questioningly "Rory Gilmore?"

"...Yeah, that's me." Rory replied undecidedly.

Smiling the young counsellor closed her file and gestured at one of the chairs placed at the front of his desk "Nice to meet you Rory, please have a seat." Tentatively, she did as she was told, after which, the man facing her proceeded. "My name is Adam Sweets, but you can call me Sweets. Now, what can I do for you?"

The man before her seemed nice enough; however, Rory couldn't help but wonder if he was hiding a set of horns somewhere. Unhurriedly she replied, "...Well, something... happened, and now I was wondering what my options were."

Grinning, Sweets asked, "Well what happened exactly? I'm going to need more information than that to see what I can do."

"Well...you see... I'm...uhh...I'm..." Sweets was grinning, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he tried to help Rory along with her statement.

"You're..."

Swallowing all her fears, she closed her eyes and let the word fall out of her lips. "Pregnant."

Nothing happened... she expected there to be yelling, lecturing, anything... but nothing happened. Leisurely, she opened her eyes to see that Sweets, as impossible as it seemed, was grinning even wider, his dimpled cheeks clearly evident.

"That's great, congratulations."

Dumbstruck, Rory muttered, "Ah... well, thanks."

"How far along are you exactly?"

"Um... I'm not sure exactly, I haven't been to a doctor yet but I guess I'm just about eighteen weeks now."

"You should get checked out. It's not good for either of you if you ignore getting a check up for too long." Concern bled into his words.

"Uh... I was going to make an appointment with a doctor sometime this week."

Sweets gave her the thumbs up before returning to school matters. "So, I'm guessing you either want to tell me that you're dropping out or you want some info on how to continue your classes throughout your pregnancy and after the baby arrives in order to graduate when you're supposed to. Personally I think you're gunning for the latter, you don't strike me as the kind of girl who would leave this school without a diploma."

Astounded, Rory looked at him with wide eyes. "You mean I can do that? There's a way I can keep going to classes and still finish Yale when I'm supposed to?"

"Of course you can! This is the twenty first century. You can attend a lecture online, ask your teachers questions through Yale's interactive chat rooms, you can even accomplish your classes with only a work book if you want. You would, however, have to come to school to take your tests and final exams, but other than that you can pretty much do everything at home if you have to... Does that sound good?" Sweets asked, grin firmly in place.

"Very."

"Okay then, let's talk specifics..."

* * *

**Sunday August 29 2004, Yale (Rory's Dorm) 9:30 a.m. **

Rory was so happy and relieved at the moment she couldn't help but grin. She could probably walk on air at this very moment; for the first time since she found out about the baby she didn't feel like everything was so bad. Oblivious to the world around her, she walked into her dorm to find that nothing was a she had previously left it. Before she had a chance to take in the almost fully set up and decorated room, Paris entered the common room from the bedroom at her left.

"Wow." It was the only thing that came out of Rory's mouth as she gazed around the space.

Paris, not being one to beat around the bush quickly explained "I moved some things around. I also switched our rooms. Now, mine may seem bigger, but yours gets less sun, so you don't have to worry about melanoma."

"Hey," she called out with concern.

"What?"

Rory pulled Paris into a hug before gently saying, "Sorry."

"Thanks."

"So, how are you holding up?"

Trying to not show how upset she was, Paris fussed around the room, hung up a picture, and made a few small adjustments to the surrounding decorations. No longer being able to avoid the question, Paris answered solemnly. "I'm fine. I'm actually relieved to be anywhere that people aren't arguing over the first-edition Faulkner's. His granddaughter Sarah is the worst. If she thought the urn was worth anything, she would have stuffed it in her purse."

"You know Paris, you don't have to take care of all this. It's not up to you."

"I know. It's just I want his memory to be respected," she replied, fidgeting with the surrounding decor.

"It will be."

"I still can't believe he's gone. He left me his manuscripts."

"Wow," Rory stated, unable to be anything but impressed.

"Yeah. If Sarah finds out, it's going to be the mountain girl trial all over again. Listen, I want to have a wake."

"A what?"

"A wake, in Asher's honour here. We'll give others the chance to pay their respects, to say goodbye. People are going to want this closure. I just think it's the right thing to do."

"Sure."

"Thank you." The moment quickly broke as Paris's cell phone rang loudly, prompting her to answer. "Hello? Larry, Larry, no. I'm sorry. Did you take the bar or just hang out in one?"

Rory smiled at her friend. They were going to be ok…

* * *

**Author's Note: **Chapter last edited September 1st 2013.


	7. Cheat

**Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Monday August 30 2004, Stars Hollow (Dean's Apartment) 9:17 p.m.**

He was tired, and all he could think about was crashing into his bed and sleeping for the next two days. He had just finished a double shift and two hours of overtime. Dean hadn't meant to do so, however, Tom had called him asking for some extra help a few minutes after he had finished his six hour shift at Doose's. Never one to refuse the possibility of extra cash, he had accepted without a second thought. After a small quarrel with Lindsay over the phone, Dean found himself completing an eight hour shift and two hours of overtime with Tom and the construction crew. He was supposed to stay for another two hours, however, Tom had noticed how tired he was and sent him home. As he arrived at the door of his apartment he cringed slightly, hopefully, Lindsay wouldn't be there. Knowing her, she'd try to get him to spend the night spoiling her with a night out on the town, and if he said no she would start up another argument about how he neglected her. Dean was too tired to do anything other than sleep at the moment, and he was in no mood for a fight, he just wanted rest. Unlocking the door, he finally stepped into his apartment. He was just about to call out Lindsay's name in order to ascertain as to whether she was present or not when he heard it. For a second, he thought the sounds were nothing more than his imagination playing tricks with him, but then he heard them again. Slightly mystified, the teenager slowly followed the sound all the way to the closed door of his bedroom. It took Dean a few seconds, but as he pressed his ear to the wood, he quite easily recognised his wife's voice. She was moaning, and by the sound of things, she wasn't the only one doing so.

He could hear his bed creaking.

Before his mind could fully process the information it was being fed, Dean's hand reached out for the door knob. The door emitted a low groan as it opened slowly, however, the sound didn't seem to register in the teenager's mind. The sight that greeted him was more than just a tad bit perverse. Dean had expected to see his wife with another man. He hadn't expected to see her with two. There on his bed, Lindsay kneeled on all fours, her mouth deep-throating some guy, while a second one pounded into her from behind. He should feel furious. He should feel resentful. He should feel hurt, as if his world was falling apart. However, just as he didn't love Lindsay, he didn't feel any of the above. Dean felt rather indifferent to the situation, expressionless he watched on as the trio noticed his unexpected arrival. Assessing the scene critically, the teen took in the sight before him. Vaguely, he recognised the men, as two of his fellow classmates. Oliver, the blond one who had been getting a blow job from Lindsay, looked slightly guilty with the situation. The other man, Nathan, who had been on the hockey team with Dean, didn't look to be as sympathetic. All three watched him in shock. Lindsay's eyes, for one had widened to comical proportions, which was somewhat even more hilarious as her lips were still firmly wrapped around Oliver's length. Silently, Oliver extracted himself from Lindsay before quickly fishing for his clothes. Nathan followed suit, as he cast a longing glance back at Lindsay, clearly unhappy with the fact that they had been interrupted. The woman in question simply remained in her compromising position, utterly flabbergast.

"You're not supposed to be home this early." Her dazed voice intoned in the quiet room.

...His Wife had never been all that smart.

Having gathered all of his clothing, Nathan made his way out of the room without a second thought to the destruction he might have caused. Dean didn't even try to stop him; he just kept staring at Lindsay, unresponsive to the entire situation. Oliver, on the other hand, kept his gaze firmly locked on the floor. As the blond passed by, Dean could faintly hear a mumbled apology. The sound of the front door of the apartment slamming shut seemed to propel Lindsay into action. Quickly, the blonde stood up from the bed and wrapped a sheet around her naked body.

"I can explain." She exalts desperately.

Dean stared at his wife completely unaffected by her plea. As disturbing as it might seem, the young man could only feel exhausted by the entire situation. A slight wave of relief was presently running in his veins. Lindsay had given him the opportunity he had sought the past week. He could now legitimately break things off knowing he wasn't the only one that hadn't been dedicated to this relationship. That she was just as unhappy with the current status quo as he was. It didn't make him feel less guilty about the situation on a whole, but it did make things somewhat easier.

"I'm done… we're done. I don't want to fight anymore; I'm tired of it all. Can you just pack a bag and go to your parents Lindsay... please?" Dean requested gently as he leaned against his desk and rubbed his eyes tiredly, his voice clearly lacking energy. The desperation on his wife's face disappeared. A scowl soon marred her features as her eyes blazed with furry. She didn't seem all that concerned with her excuses anymore, nor did she seem willing to take his plea at heart.

"We're married. This place is as much mine as it yours. I'm not going anywhere Dean Forester."

His posture was weary and his tone took a slight edge as he glanced at the indignant glare his wife was shooting his way. "You know what, never mind. I don't want to stay and sleep in the bed that you just had a threesome in. Stay, I don't care, I just want things to be over. I'll move back in at my parent's house and tell Taylor that it's your apartment now."

"Oh, and exactly what makes you think that you can just leave like that, hum? We're married Dean! Besides, how do you expect me to pay the rent, you're the one who has our money in _your_ bank account! I don't even have the code!"

Dean looked at his wife incredulous momentarily before he regained composure. "What the hell are you talking about Lindsay? I'm the one who spends his days working his ass off in order to provide for us. I'm the one working two jobs, you don't even have one. It's not our money Lindsay, it's my money." Exasperated with the situation, he turned to leave. However, Lindsay always did have to have the last word whenever they would fight.

"See, that's the problem with you, Dean, it's always you, you, you. You have to work, you have to do this and you have to do that. God, Dean what about me? Why do you think I've been cheating on you for the past couple of years? I mean it was bad enough that you kept pinning over that goody-goody Gilmore. I can't believe I honestly thought you would come to your senses and pay more attention to me once we were married!"

Flabbergast, he stared at his wife utterly speechless. Within moments his facial expression contorted into a mix of disbelief and disgust. "What?" He cried out, his voice dripping with barely retained anger.

"Yeah, I know. I've always known about you're stupid obsession," Lindsay seethed.

"No Lindsay," he hissed. "You just said that you've been cheating on me for two years now, which, according to my math means you started cheating on me before we even officially began dating!"

The blonde immediately froze, it seemed she hadn't realised just how much info she was leaking while going on her tirade. Her mouth hung open for a few seconds before firmly closing shut. Dean, just burst out laughing delirious from exhaustion."I should have known you were spreading it around. After all it's not like you were a virgin when we got together."

Insulted and gobsmacked his wife reacted in true Lindsay fashion. She screamed at him, letting out a string of profanities as she stomped around their bedroom and pointed an accusing finger at his face.

Finally she threw her arms in the air. "I can't talk to you when you're like this. I want you out of the apartment, and don't come back until you're ready to apologise for being such a selfish bastard!" Furious the blonde stomped her way to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

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**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	8. Little Sisters Are Always Right

******Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Tuesday August 31 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester residence) 8:25 a.m.**

For the second time in almost three years, Dean awoke feeling relaxed and at peace with his life, he nearly felt as good as he had the night he and Rory had made love for the first time. He wanted to go and talk to her, tell her that Lindsay wasn't going to be a problem for much longer. However, he restrained himself, thinking it would be best for him to wait until the divorce came through. Then there would be no more excuses, nothing that would make Rory feel guilty about the situation. That was, if she still wanted him at that point. A frown placed itself upon his brow, he really shouldn't think about things that would upset him this early in the morning.

Taking his own sweet time, he got out of bed and proceeded to dress himself. He didn't relish the prospect of going down to breakfast at the moment, knowing what he would have to do once he took his place at the dinning table.

After catching Lindsay with those two guys, Dean had packed a bag and gone straight home to his parents. He hadn't told anyone anything, just said that he wouldn't sleep at the apartment. His mother had enquired why at the time, however, Dean had only told her that he was in no mood to talk about it before retreating to the confines of his room.

It was no secret that he Lindsay fought, and fought often. It had started not that long after he and Lindsay had said their vows. A few weeks later, and the arguments had escalated from small disagreements to full blown fights. The worst part of it all was that they would often have spats for no apparent reason.

His family probably thought that this was just another one of their meaningless arguments that had simply escalated to ridiculous proportions. Ironically, it was not the first time that Lindsay had sent him sleeping at his parents' house due to trivial reasons. The most recent one to date; he forgot to stop at Doose's and pick up the box of caramel chocolates Lindsay had requested before he went to work a double shift in construction. He could hear his family preparing breakfast in the kitchen, sighing he made his way downstairs...might as well get it over and done with.

The moment Dean entered the kitchen, all became silent. Which in itself was something. They weren't the quietest of families, especially in the morning. As such, only the obvious could be assumed, they had been talking about him. Not surprising though, usually when Lindsay kicked him out of the apartment he would inform his parents of the crime he had committed before retiring to bed. Whether it is a box of forgotten chocolates, or the fact that he got on her nerves during _that _time of the month. Last night he had imparted no information, this alone was probably worrisome for them.

"Hi," He said trying to get the conversation started again.

"So, what'd you do this time? Forgot to buy princess a box of tampons?" His little sister Clara asked in a sarcastic manner, more than a little vehemence leaking into her tone.

"Clara, mind your manners young lady." Isabella Forester scolded her daughter. Looking at the thirty-nine year old women made it quite obvious that Dean had inherited his physical appearance from his father's side of the family. Her black hair, grey eyes, sharp cheekbones and small stature had quite obviously not been passed down to her son. However, Dean had acquired her tanned complexion, other then that, the two held no resemblance. Dean was, however, the spitting image of his father. Jacob Forester was brunet, hazel eyed and stood oh so very tall with his six foot two inches frame. Dean, ironically, surpassed his father in height, but only by an inch.

His younger sister seemed more than just a little annoyed at the way she was being treated. That much could be deciphered by the roll of her hazel eyes. "But I hate her, she's such a spoiled little brat. Why'd he have to go and marry her?" Clara whined.

"Listen to your mother Clara" Jacob Forester chimed in. "Besides, you never liked Beth either."

"No, but I did like Rory...Why couldn't he have married her instead? That would have been so cool." She mumbled under her breath as she hid her face behind her long brunet hair.

"Clara." Their father said testily, slamming his empty mug of coffee upon the dining table.

"No, she's right."

All sound ceased and desisted the second those three words came out of Dean's mouth. Not at all bothered by the shocked demeanour of his family, the teenager made his way to the kitchen counter where a selection of breakfast foods awaited to be devoured. After making himself a plate of eggs, bacon, toast and mini pancakes he sat himself down at the table and tucked in.

Bella looked back and forth between her only son and her husband clearly confused about the whole situation. With a not so subtle movement of her head, she gestured at her husband to inquire upon the state of affairs in their son's life. Hesitantly, Jacob spoke.

"What was that son?" Bella lifted her left eyebrow at him for not getting straight to the point of things. Jacob only shrugged his shoulders at his wife's impatience.

"I said that Clara was right." Dean declared, and the teenage girl beamed in appreciation. After all, it was a rarity for her older brother to admit the obvious and state that she was right. Because admitting she was right also meant admitting that he was wrong. Ever since he had broken up with Rory and started dating Lindsay they never saw eye to eye on things... well except for a few undisclosed times that warranted their cooperation. It just gave her warm fuzzy feelings inside whenever he was brave enough to swallow his pride and admit that sometimes, he's an idiot.

"Glad to see you've seen the light brother dearest." A small scoff emitted from Clara's mouth as their mother glared at her in disapproval.

"Right about what exactly?" Bella inquired carefully.

"Right about my marriage, right about Lindsay and right about...Rory." Dean paused for a few seconds before finishing his train of thought. "Right about everything."

"Dean, sweetie, what exactly happened?" Bella probed gently.

Looking at the faces of his family, the young man sighed, knowing he would have to answer sooner or later. However, at this particular moment he much preferred stalling. And stall he did, everyone watched on in silence as he set to work on polishing off his plate. Soon enough though, Dean's plate was clean of any food and he found himself having to face his fate.

"Do you really want to know what's been happening mom? Do you really want the truth about everything with nothing sugar coated? Do you mom?"

"Well of course I do, what kind of question is that?"

Glancing at all three faces staring back at him intently, Dean took time to notice that they all really did seem curious about knowing what was going on. Taking a deep shallow breath, he explained.

"I don't love Lindsay, I never loved Lindsay. It's always been Rory for me, just Rory, no one else. I thought if I moved on then I could get her to come back. So, I started dating Lindsay thinking that she would get jealous when she saw us together, but she didn't. After that I proposed to Lindsay, hoping it would make her miserable, this time I got a reaction out of her, but not the one I wanted."

Sighing, the boy took in a deep breath. "She was worried about me, worried about my future. In a way it made me happy because it showed that she still cared. And in another way it made me angry because although caring was good and well, it wasn't what I wanted from her. We fought, but she made it right again, she always make's it right. Then came the week- end of my wedding day, I ran into her on the street. I was so happy to see her, I thought that that was it. I was finally going to get what I wanted. So, I invited her, wishing that she wouldn't be able to let me walk down that isle on my way to marry Lindsay."

Dean rubbed at his blurry eyes, "On the day of the wedding, I looked everywhere for her, but I couldn't find her. I figured no biggie; she and her mom were never early to any grand social event. And then came the part where the minister asked if anyone objected, and I knew she wasn't there. I'd been looking at the pews throughout the entire thing. But a part of me had hoped that I would hear her voice at that moment. So when I didn`t, I gave up, and said I do. After that I just looked for reasons to be around her, to see her, maybe even talk to her if I got lucky. I was pinning for her and I still am."

Dean sighed, "I know what I did was wrong, using Lindsay to try and get what I want. All I can say is that I never meant for anything like this to happen. I knew I shouldn't have done any of those things, and at the time I kept telling myself that I should break it off. But, I just couldn't do it. At first, I figured if I just kept pushing a little more than it would finally work, it never did. Then things started to get serious, and I wanted out, but something kept pushing me to go further, to propose, so I did. By the time everything finally caught up with me, I realised what a big mistake I was making. Except it was too late, her parents were coming over for family dinners, you guys were planning the wedding, everyone was happy. So... I just let it happen."

All three family members appeared to be sad and solemn. Clara was biting her lip as she moved around her cold eggs with her fork, eyes misty and staring intently at her plate. His dad only stared at him and his mom had tears trailing down her face. "Oh, sweetie. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I figured you wouldn't want to hear about it. Besides, it doesn't matter anymore, after what happened last night I'm divorcing Lindsay as soon as I can." Clara was grinning like a Cheshire cat and was about to congratulate him on growing a few brain cells when her father spoke up first.

A frown marred Jacob's face. "What do you mean son? What happened yesterday?"

"I went back to the apartment after working overtime on the extra shift I got with Tom right after I finished up with Doose's. I was tired and all I wanted to do was go to bed. When I got there I heard these noises coming from the bedroom. I opened the door to find Lindsay cheating on me with two guys in our bed. Guess, she just didn't love me as much as she said she did, which kind of makes me feel better about the entire situation. Especially since she' s been apparently screwing around our entire relationship. It kind of puts us on a level ground in a way, we're both lying scumbags."

Dean lets out a self deprecating laugh and shifts his gaze toward the other occupants in the room. His parents looked both shocked and repulsed. Clara, however, just looked disgusted. It would seem that she hadn't put it pass Lindsay to do such a thing.

"Are... are you sure?" his father enquired gobsmacked.

"Oh, believe me, I'm sure. Theirs no misinterpreting how I found her."

Angrily his mother cleaned up their plates and threw them into the sink, not even pausing when most of them broke. She stormed out of the kitchen without a second glance. His father got up from his seat and addressed Dean.

"I'll go call the lawyer, see what we can do about a divorce, huh?"

The two siblings were left alone to stare at each other as their father made his way to the living room phone. It was at that moment that the sound of their mother cursing reached their ears. It would seem that their mother had a more extensive vocabulary of curses and foul names then either of them had previously realised.

* * *

**Wednesday September 1 2004, Yale (Rory's dorm) 10:39 a.m.**

Rory had just finished putting up the posters for Mr. Fleming's wake and made her way back to her dorm only to find Paris puffing away on a pipe. Slowly she closes the door and stairs at her roommate quizzically. Paris noticing the look her friend was giving her simply answered sadly.

"I just wanted to smell like him again."

She walks over to join Paris on the sofa, and puts an arm around her in order to comfort her friend as she continues to puff away on her pipe. Rory tries to ignore the awful smell, yet unfortunately her morning sickness seemed to be disagreeing with her attempt. She manages the hold it in as long as she can, however, no matter how much she tries Rory soon finds herself dashing towards the bathroom in order to empty the contents of her stomach.

Flushing once the task was completed, Rory shakily got back up on her feet only to find Paris standing in the bathroom doorway looking at her in concern.

"Are you sick?"

She was hoping to delay this conversation,conversation; however, the fates didn't seem too keen on the idea. Sighing, she grabbed the girl's arm and led her back to the sofa. Once they were seated, the youngest Gilmore took in a deep breath and told Paris the news.

"Paris, there's something I need to tell you..."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	9. Daddy' Princess & A Wake in Progress

******Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Thursday September 2 August 2004, Stars Hollow (Lister Residence) 3:12 p.m.**

Shannon and Michel Lister were furious. Their precious baby girl had come home last night crying her eyes out about what Dean had done. She had been hysterical and kept saying that the boy had not only threatened to divorce her, but that he had the intention of leaving her with nothing at all. At the time she had thought the boy had been simply jesting, however, she had not seen neither hide nor hair of him since Sunday night.

This would not do, this would not do at all. Michel Lister was not one to stand idly by as ignorant morons attacked his family. He would show Dean Forester some manners and teach him to treat his little girl like the princess she was. First, however, he would discuss things over with Jacob Forester. It wouldn't do to cause a stir over a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, he was in no mood to be civil, one mistake and he would give them a talking to.

Leaving his wife Shannon to console their only daughter, he made his way to his study in order to discuss the matter privately over the phone. Dialling the familiar number, he awaited patiently as the ring tone screeched five times before someone actually picked up.

"Forester residence, who's talking?" Said the disgruntled voice of a young teenage girl.

"Hi, Clara. This is Michel I need t-" and then there was nothing left but the sound of the dial tone. Now he was particularly angry.

Looking at the phone in his hand, Michel rolled his eyes at having that particular teenage girl hanging up on him. Honestly, she had no manners at all, she might as well have been raised in a zoo for all the finesse the girl held. He wasn't surprised that she had done so however, the girl was a brat after all, her parents should be more strict on her. Naturally, he had taken an immediate disliking to the little drama queen, especially since she had the gal to call his perfect little princess names in public without so much as a thought to discretion. If that weren't enough, that infuriating girl would always mention how she wished that that bastard Gilmore girl were there, and held no qualms about interrogating her brother on any news he had of her. Insufferable child indeed, sighing, he dialled the number once more.

Luckily, this time the girl did not pick up "Jacob Forester speaking, who might this be?"

"Ah, Jacob. Just the man I wanted to speak with. This is Michel Lister." There was a long pause before the man on the other line finally took up his end of the conversation.

"...Yes, well...uhum...what is it exactly did you wish to speak to me about?"

"I would like you to explain to me what exactly did your fool headed son think he was doing? I didn't expect much from him given his grades,however, I had not expected that he would be so dim-witted."

"I beg your pardon?"Jacob spat, incredulity marring his tone.

"You heard me! After what he did to my little girl, your lucky I'm not coming over at your house and give your son a beating. You obviously forgot to teach that boy some manners, come to think of it your daughter seems to be lacking in that department also."

"...What... What he did? Have you gone and lost your marbles, after what your daughter did, you honestly have the nerve to belittle my son."

"Listen you twit! My daughter came home this morning crying her eyes out about how Dean said he was going to divorce her, and how he was going to leave her with nothing? If anyone did anything, it was that ruffian son of yours!"

"Well maybe he wouldn't have told her that if he hadn't found her cheating on him!"

Michel was dumbstruck, how could this man say such a thing. His daughter never would have done such a filthy and vile thing. His daughter went to Jacob's son a virgin and no other man, but her husband would ever touch her.

"You're insolence astounds me! My little princess would never cheat. You're just as much as a scoundrel as your son is for even suggesting such a thing."

"Yes, well I doubt the judge will see it that way once my son informs him that you're daughter prefers not to have one, but two bed mates at the same time," Jacob hissed into the receiver.

Michel could only stand there speechless, his face imitating that of a fish as the dial tone could be heard emanating from the phone.

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Mansion) 7:26 p.m.**

Emily Gilmore had just finished her supper for the evening, the sounds of Tony Bennet filled the room. She dabbed her mouth with an expensive linen napkin as she called out for her maid of the week.

"Madonna Louise!"

The maid answers to her call like a well trained dog. Quickly she sets about on cleaning off the table as she enquires to her mistresses needs.

"Can I get you some dessert, Mrs. Gilmore?"

"No, thank you."

"Very good, Mrs. Gilmore."

"And don't run the dishwasher. It's not full."

"I won't, Mrs. Gilmore."

"I smelled something funny earlier in the northeast corner of the kitchen."

"I sprayed for ants this afternoon."

"Oh, Madonna Louise, I told you never spray that poison all over the place. You simply have to kill the scout ants so they don't go back and tell the rest of them where the food is."

"I know Mrs. Gilmore."

"You kill the scouts, or you use the chalk that we bought in Chinatown last month."

"Okay, Mrs. Gilmore."

"Madonna Louise?"

"Yes, Mrs. Gilmore?"

"It was a lovely omelette."

"Thank you, Mrs. Gilmore." The maid said as she exited the room.

Emily slowly rises from her chair and blows out the candle tapers on the table. Idly she wanders into the living room not quite certain what do with herself at this point. Seeing nothing else to do she picks up her nearby book to read. Quickly becoming unsatisfied, she puts it back down and wanders about the room, bored. As she prepares to climb the stairs to go to bed, she hears a noise outside. Listening more closely she realises that it is the sound of a Vehicle door closing, and an engine roaring to life. Curious, she walks to the window to look out, and gapes from shock at what she sees.

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Stars Hollow (Town Square) 7:47 p.m.**

Luke and Lorelai were walking together across the town square toward Miss Patty's, on their way to the town meeting. It was their second date, and so far none of the townspeople had mentioned anything after Lorelai's floorshow this morning.

"How did I get rooked into this?" Luke asked somewhat disbelievingly.

"Uh, I'm irresistible?" Lorelai replies

"Yeah. Well, have I mentioned I hate town meetings?"

"No. I thought you said you hate clown bleedings, which I totally agree with."

" Oh, no. Is tonight raffle night? I can't deal with raffle night."

"No, it's not raffle night. Look, I promise we won't stay for the whole thing. It'll be like a stop by. We'll just run in and get the headlines so I have something to tell Rory, and then we're off to the movie."

"Do not get used to me going to these town things. Just because you like them does not mean that I will ever like them or tolerate them or go to them."

"Hmm. Other than tonight?"

"Yes, other than tonight."

"And next Thursday."

"I did not say I would go next Thursday." The sound Lorelai's Cell phone ringing interrupts their discussion "What the hell is next Thursday?"

Lorelai only grins at her newfound boyfriend as she answers the call. "Hello?"

"Lorelai? Oh, thank God I found you." cursing silently, Lorelai mouths the words _my mother_ to a curious Luke.

"Hi, Mom." She says as she points an accusing finger to Luke, who shrugs innocently.

"The most bizarre thing has happened. At 7:30 at night, I had just finished my dinner. I was about to go upstairs and read, and I suddenly heard a car."

"Uh-huh."

"I ran to the window just in time to see your father driving away. He was driving away at 7:30 at night."

"Uh-huh."

"Lorelai!" Emily declares, quite obviously exasperated.

" Was"Was hethe driving backwards or with his feet?"

"Where was your father going at 7:30 at night?"

"Well, maybe he had a business meeting."

"At 7:30 at night? What, has he suddenly become a bootlegger?"

"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm about to go into a thing. Can we talk about this later?"

"Oh, absolutely. Far be it for me to intrude on whatever vague event you're going to."

"Great! Thanks, Mom. Bye." Closing her cell, Lorelai says to Luke. "Your fault."

"How was that my fault?"

"Because you preoccupied me with all your yammering about the meeting, so I wasn't thinking, and I didn't check to see who was calling before I answered." grinning happily she states "Boy, it's nice to finally have someone to blame."

She giggles and Luke grins as he follows her to up the front steps, and into the meeting inside Miss Patty's dance studio. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the pair arrived late, for Andrew and Gypsy are standing in the front of the raised stage in the middle of an argument.

"And then looked, backed up"

"No."

"I did too back up."

"You backed up. You didn't look. You got in, you turned on your car, and then you whipped out of that space like you were Lizzie Grubman."

Luke and Lorelai quietly sneak inside and take seats in the back of the room. Looking over at her date, she can't help but say "Do we have timing or what?" as the argument up front continues without interruption.

"I did not."

"Andrew, you did too."

"I distinctly remember looking in my mirror and seeing nothing."

"Except me."

"I didn't see you."

"Liar"

"I am not a liar."

Riveted, Lorelai pulls liquorice from her purse and offers one to Luke.

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Yale (Rory's dorm) 8:02 p.m.**

Paris greets two boys at the open doorway. The room is crowded with people. Hard cover book copies of Asher Flemming's work and macaroni art could be found everywhere. Rory had expected some sort of fit from Paris once she informed her of her condition. Instead the blonde threw herself into Asher Flemming's wake and her macaroni art. They still hadn't had a proper conversation about the situation.

"Thank you for coming. Please feel free to take a book." Paris states as the boy shrug's and enters the room, walking straight for the beverage table. Cups, wine bottles, beer pitchers all stand atop stacks upon stacks of books. Just arriving to the festivities, Marty looks around the room curiously as he approaches Rory.

"Hey." He says

"Hi."

"Interesting crowd."

"Yeah, most of the people have no idea they're at a wake. They think it's some weird theme party. I've spent the entire evening trying to get people to stop referring to Asher as _the old dead dude._"

"Does Paris know?"

"Paris, thank goodness, is Paris." Marty nods understandably as Paris approaches them quickly.

"Hi, Marty. Thank you for coming. Please help yourself to a book."

"The wake seems to be going well."

"It is." Paris states looking around "I'm very pleased with the turnout. I mean, I knew he was beloved, but this is overwhelming."

Rory sees some students carrying in a beer keg and motions quietly for Marty to get rid of them before Paris notices.

"You know, it's funny, but Asher died right at the height of my passion for him. I kind of wonder what would have happened if he had lived. Would I have stayed in love with him forever?"

"I don't know."

"He died before I could find out. Now I'll always be in love with him. He's my Mike Todd."

Rory tries to consoles Paris with a hug, but it seemed to do little to help. Breaking apart, Paris looks at Rory before asking.

"How are you feeling? You're not feeling nauseous are you? Cause if you are you should probably go to bed."

"I'm good, tired, but good."

Looking down at Rory's flat stomach, the petite blond can't help but wonder at the strange situation they had gotten themselves into. "God this is so weird. Isn't it weird? I mean the two of us, nineteen, and at Yale, me mourning my recently deceased boyfriend and you... well you know. By the way, you never did tell me who put it there. Did you meet someone new over the summer or did your ex boyfriend come back to town again? What's his name again? Jack, Jeb or something, I can't remember."

"His name is Jess, and no he hasn't come back to town since the last time I saw him and I didn't meet anyone new."

Paris looks taken aback for a few seconds. "But that doesn't make any sense. The only person left in your repertoire would be..." Her eyes widened to comical proportions, before staring at Rory, awaiting confirmation. An affirmative nod is all she receives, confused she asks.

"I'm sorry, but isn't he married?"

"Yep"

"...and you?"

"Yep."

"Wow."

"It's just something that happened, okay. It wasn't planned, and it just happened. Believe me, it won't ever happen again."

"...Does he...you know...know?"

"No, and I don't plan on him finding out any time soon."

"Too much drama?"

"Something like that."

"Understandable." Paris glancing around the room as the wake progresses "Our lives really are turning out weird."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	10. Grandma, What Big Ears You Have

******Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Stars Hollow (Town Meeting) 8:29 p.m.**

Luke watches Lorelai munch on more snacks "We're going to dinner after the movie."

"I know."

Taylor speaking from behind his podium addresses his fellow townspeople "All those who think Andrew was in the wrong, arms raised." To which several people raise their hands "All those who think that Gypsy was at fault, arms raised." However More hands raise themselves after this statement "The majority rules. Gypsy is at fault for the fender bender outside the Stars Hollow Garden Center and shall be responsible for all said damages."

"Ha! We have got to get a courthouse in this town!" Gypsy exclaims as she sits down in a huff.

Taking over the situation Taylor once again speaks up "All right, let's move on to the next order of business. Hmm. A very serious matter has been brought to our attention, and I would like to bring to the floor for discussion the possible negative ramifications of the inn owner and diner owner dating."

"That's us." Lorelai gasps.

"They're talking about us." Luke says incredulously.

Taylor continues "Now, as you all know, the relationship we have feared for some time has emerged, and we need to carefully consider whether or not we can support this."

"Oh, my God." She says disbelievingly.

"We're sitting right here!" Like states fuming.

Unperturbed Talor answers "Yes, we see you, Luke, and, as a member of the town, you are welcome to voice your opinion."

"Voice my –"

Taylor bangs his gavel before proceeding "I open the floor up for discussion."

The crowd murmurs and numerous hands raise themselves "All right. I'll start. Luke's Diner is a staple in this town. Most of us eat there on a regular basis. The Dragonfly Inn, though newer than Luke's Diner, has also become very important in our community." Luke and Lorelai exchange looks of disbelief "The co-mingling of the owners of these two establishments can only set the stage for disaster."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Luke asks more than a little incensed.

"Well he's not happy with our co-mingling."

"Think of the consequences. What will happen when the relationship goes sour, as, let's face it, most of Lorelai's relationships do?" Taylor asks

"Hey!" Came Lorelai's indignant protest

He continues "We'll have to choose. Suddenly you'll either be a 'Luke' or a 'Lorelai', or, if you're Kirk and you can't make a decision to save your life, you'll be neither."

"He's probably right." Kirk chimes in.

"That's bad for the economy, bad for the town. I vote against this." Taylor states firm in his desicion.

"Are they gonna make us break up?" Lorelai asks disbelievingly.

"I think you're over reacting, Taylor." Babette says.

"People, do I have to remind you about Fay Wellington and Art Brush, huh? Do I?" murmurs are heard erupting from the crowd.

"Uh, yeah." The Gilmore girl exclaims.

Babette decides to explain "Fay owned a flower shop, and Art owned a candy store, and they fell madly in love about 10 years ago - big romance."

" And for a while, it all worked very synergistically. Flowers and candy seemed like a perfect match..." Taylor continued

"Until Art met Margie." Miss Patty said filling in the gap.

"The fudge queen." Came Gypsy's grumpy reply

"Ooh, that was bad." Babette declares, cringing at the memory.

"The whole town split right down the middle. Suddenly you could buy flowers or you could buy candy." Taylor articulates.

"Valentine's Day was a nightmare." Miss Patty says knowingly.

"Eventually, the hostility forced Art to move."

"Fay never married. She stopped making candy. It was very sad." Babette reminisces

"And those storefronts were empty for a year. No one wanted to be there." Taylor finishes off.

"God, this sounds terrible. Maybe they have a point." Lorelai asks worriedly.

"No, they don't have a point." Luke answers

"Well, what if something happens?"

"This is crazy. I don't believe that the breakup of Fay Wellington and Art Brush affected the economy of this town one bit."

"Well, lucky for you, I brought charts." Taylor puts in.

"You have charts concerning the romance of two people who used to live here 10 years ago?"

Lorelai's cellphone rings as Kirk once again makes a fool of himself. "We think Fay still lives in the caves above the Clancys' Mill. We can't prove it, but every so often, we hear _Delta Dawn _playing over and over."

Quietly Lorelai answers her phone "Hello?"

"Your father came home at 8:30. He went inside the poolhouse for five minutes, and he got back in his car, and he drove away again." Luke looks inquiringly and Lorelai silently mouths _my mother_. Luke, satisfied returns his attention to the meeting.

"Mom, this is really not a good –"

"Traipsing all over the place at all hours of the night."

"Uh-huh. Mom, where are you? You sound very far away." quietly she walks outside.

"Park Road." Emily replies while driving.

"Park Road. Why?"

"I'm not gonna be the one that sits at home alone in the dark like an Italian widow. If he can go out, then I can go out, so I went out."

"Well, good for you."

"I figured I'd have dinner. I already had dinner. But if Richard's having two dinners, then I can have two dinners, so I went to a place I used to eat at when I was in college. And do you know what I found? It's a 'Lube-And-Tune' with an X-rated T-shirt store next door."

"Mom, this is silly. Why don't you just go home?"

"I'm not gonna be the first one back."

"Well, how long are you gonna drive around?"

"Until I'm sure your father came home. Let him worry about where I was all night."

The sound of the Conversation getting louder inside Miss Patty's at the town meeting draws her attention. "Look, I can't talk right now."

"Well, I'm not done."

"I'll call you later."

"I could be dead later."

"Call one of your friends."

"No one knows about the separation except you and Rory."

"Well, I'm sorry, Mom. I'm in the middle of something very important."

"Well, this is important, too. Meet me for a coffee."

"Mom, I can't, and Rory just moved in, and she's at school getting settled, so if you really can't talk to one of your friends, I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to finish this later."

"Fine." At which point Emily hangs up.

The crowd is murmuring as Lorelai returns inside and sits beside Luke. Various poster-sized charts are set up on easels.

"I think that map's a little off. Luke would definitely take the Northwest block 'cause it's near the fishing hole." Babette states.

"Okay, that's it. I've heard enough." Fed up, Luke walks to the stage and yanks up the charts off their easels, and yells at the towns people."This is my relationship - mine, not yours, not yours, not yours," looks at Lorelai "yours, but not yours. Mine and hers but not –" looking pointedly at Taylor "yours! There's not gonna be any more debating about whether or not it's a good idea if we're in a relationship, 'cause we're in a relationship."

"Show them the horoscope!" Lorelai pitches in.

"But in the event of a breakup –"

"There's not going to be a breakup."

"Well, isn't he the optimistic fellow?" Gypsy says sarcastically.

"Fine. In case of a breakup, I'll move. I'll close up Luke's Diner, I'll go far, far away, and that way you won't have to choose, okay? Every section in town can be pink."

"Can we have your word on that?"

"You can have my word and a couple of middle fingers on that, Taylor."

"Get that down. We have his word. Leave out the part about the fingers. All right, people, it seems that the issue of Gilmore and Danes vs. Stars Hollow has been resolved." Lorelai grins and looks around proudly "See you all next week when everyone gets fingerprinted for the government." Taylor bangs his gavel "Meeting adjourned."

The Townspeople mill out chattering among themselves as Lorelai joins Luke near the stage. "Wow!"

Luke chuckles nervously. "Yeah. You still in?"

"You bet I am." Then, a thought causes her sudden panic "Oh, my God."

"What? What's the matter?"

Lorelai quickly pulls out her cell phone and hits speed dial. She sighs impatiently while it rings."

"Hello?" Rory answers on the other end.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry."

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Yale (Rory's dorm) 9:06 p.m.**

Hearing her mother apologising on the other end for some unknown crime confused Rory to say the least. It also made her a tad anxious, what could her mom have done that would be so bad, especially when compared to her present condition. Unfortunatly, she couldn't go anywhere private at the moment seeing as her dorm was presently being taken over by her fellow students. The wake was still very much underway, which pleased Paris to no end.

"For what?"

"Rory." Hearing her grandmother's voice, she turns in shock. Emily is standing in the open doorway.

"Grandma." She utters, beyond shock.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Her mother bables on the phone prest against her ear.

"What is going on here?"

"I have to hang up now." Rory declares to her mom.

"Have I mentioned I'm sorry?" She hears one last time before answering with a curt "Bye." Closing the phone and turning towards her grandma, Rory says the first thing that comes to mind. "Well, this is a surprise."

"I simply had to get out of the house and your mother told me you were home, so I thought I'd come by and say hello." Emily looks around to room before asking "Why are there pictures of Asher Fleming everywhere?"

"This is a wake for Professor Fleming. He died." She whispers

"You'd think your grandfather could have mentioned that to me, but no. I bet he'll make me go to that insufferable man's funeral, though."

"He was cremated."

"Oh, thank God."

Before anything else is said, Rory finds herself being saved by the most unlikely person as Paris rushes up and hugs Emily. "Emily! It means so much to me that you came." The young blond said.

"Well, yes. Asher was very devoted to his students." Suddenly, Paris bursts into tears crying. "Oh, now, there's no need to cry. Yale is full of excellent teachers." Her grandmother states as They both sit down on a nearby sofa while Emily attempts to comfort Paris.

Being obserbed in the drama unfolding before her eyes Rory did not notice when Marty approached with two plastic cups in hand.

"Root beer?" He enquires

Startled out of her thoughts, she takes one of the cups "Yeah. Thanks, Marty, for everything. You've been such a huge help tonight."

"For you, anything... Hey, Rory?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you - I mean, how come you don't have a-a - do you have a boyfriend?"

"What?"

"I'm just curious. You don't mention anyone. There's no one here you seem to be with, so I was just wondering what the deal was."

"Uhh... well its sort of complicated."

"Complicated, how?"

"Well... I dated this guy a while back, but then we broke up because of some other guy, he got married and... well, here I am."

"Okay..." Marty said somewhat confused. "So that would be a no?"

"No, eh, I mean yes. I don't have a boyfriend at the moment."

He suddenly started getting very fidgety. "Uh... Well, since you don't have a boyfriend I was sort of wondering if, maybe, you'd like to go on a date?"

Rory could honestly say that she had not expected this, not one bit. It could be seen clearly on her face. Her mouth was open and her eyes had widened greatly. Not sure what to do she babbled out the first thing that came to mind.

"I can't."

His brown eyes reflected how hurt he was, before speaking up."Okay, well..."

Having realised that she had not handled the situation as well as she could have, Rory panicked and tried to explain. "No, Marty. It's not that I don't like you or anything, your one of my best friends. But, I can't be with you that way, because of the guy I told you about?"

"What do you mean? I thought you said he was married now?"

"He is. It's just... a few months ago we kind of got together. But, I fixed it. I sent him a letter and told him that couldn't be with him because what we were doing was just...wrong."

"So... you don't want to go out on date with me because your still pinning for him?"

"Yes, urghh, I mean no...maybe. But Marty that's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?"

Rory was struggling with what to do next as Marty looked at her inquisitively. Letting her hormones and the need to make Marty understand have control over her actions, she blurted it out quickly "I'm pregnant."

The look on his face told Rory that he had not been expecting that. And the voice of the person standing behind her told her that she was in all kinds of trouble.

"WHAT?" Came her grandmother's loud screech.

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 9:13 p.m.**

It had to be one of the longest two days he had ever lived through, he was wiped out. As if breaking the news about Lindsay to his family hadn't been enough, the call his father received from Michel Lister had done it. Of course Dean also had to deal with setting up a meeting with the family's lawyer in order to hash out the details of the divorce. Given everything that was happening he decided to call in sick at work.

He had now retired to his room and was looking foward to a nice long night of sleep when his sister barged into his room and plopped herself down beside him on his bed. Annoyed that she hadn't even bothered to knock first, he made his displeasure known.

"Clara, what are you doing? Could you maybe knock next time, I could have been naked you know."

She looked at him with a petulant gleam shining in her eyes "Oh, please, you do the same thing to me all the time. Besides, I caught you with Lindsay once, there ain't nothing that you got that I haven't seen before. Which is why you should really learn to lock your door, closing it wouldn't be such a bad idea either. After all I'm already scared for life, you don't need to add to it."

Trying to ignore the fact that he was probably blushing from embarrassement, Dean decided it would simply be best to get on with it, "What do you want?"

"I want to know what happened?"

"Between me and Lindsay?"

"No, between you and Rory. You haven't talked about her in awhile, granted you would never talk about her when Lindsay was around. But, the point is, you would always have new info on her whenever I got the chance to ask. Lately, however, you never seem to know anything. What happened? Did you do something wrong? Is that why she's not talking to you anymore?"

"Look Clara, it isn't really your business, okay. Besides, after what happened the week-end of the Dragon fly's test run, she hasn't really been all that eager to talk to me. All I got was one lousy letter, that's it."

"Why what happened?"

"Nothing."

"But, you just said-"

"Clara, it's none of your business so just butt out!"

"Fine" Clara uttered in a snappy tone, and silence filled the room. Or at least for a few moments. "What was in the letter?"

"Clara!"

She huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest, gaze fixed at the ceiling determined. A few moments passed as her irritation at being denied the information she wanted so badly deflated. "I miss her." Clara whispered.

"I miss her too." Was Dean's reply.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	11. Altercations & Misplaced Thongs

******Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Saturday September 4 2004, Yale (Rory's Dorm) 9:17 p.m.**

"What? What do you mean you're pregnant! I forbid you to be pregnant. Take that back!" Emily screeched in the middle of the room.

Naturally, her grandmother had now gained the attention of the entire room. Silence surrounded the area, you could practically hear the frogs calling out into the night... ribit, ribit. This was not the way she wanted her grandma to find out about the baby. Rory figured that a part of her had hoped to put this moment off in determinedly, or at least, until she couldn't hide her stomach anymore. However, it seemed that fate had chosen to be unnecessarily cruel to her this evening.

Quickly making her way towards her grandmother, Rory grabbed hold of the woman's arm and proceeded to haul her out of the dorm with as much finesse as she could muster. Every pair of eyes had followed their progression into the hallway. Luckily, Emily seemed to be in shock, and Rory was able to bring them all the way to a secluded corner near the building's exit before her grandmother regained her wits about her.

Emily Gilmore's face glowered with anger as she addressed her granddaughter. "Young lady, you have better start explaining right this instant, or so help me god..." the rage was barely suppressed in her voice.

"Look I'm sorry you found out this way, but there's really nothing to explain. I'm pregnant, and that's all there really is to know."

Disbelief was clearly written all over her grandmother's face. "That's all? THAT'S ALL? Oh really, what about how this happened? Hmm, or better yet, who got you pregnant in the first place? Huh? I do believe that THAT isn't all."

Gazing avidly towards the floor, Rory muttered "I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't want to talk about it? Oh golly that's good to know, guess that means that we don't have to discuss this any further. Oh, but wait a minute, you're pregnant, which signifies that whether or not you want to talk about IT, you will talk about it. Do you understand me Lorelai Leigh Gilmore?"

"I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen, it just did. But I'm-"

"I can't do this." Emily said, effectively cutting Rory off.

"What-"

"I cannot and will not do this at the moment." She states before turning on her heel and making her way towards the door.

"Grandma." Rory said pleadingly. However, her prayer seemingly fell on death ears, for her grandmother had already disappeared into the night. Tears filled her blue eyes and slid down her cheeks.

Swiftly, she made her way back towards her room. She did not even pause as it became apparent in her mind that everyone of her fellow students attending the wake of Asher FlemmingFleming had clearly heard the exchange of words in the hallway.

As she went into her room and away from prying eyes, Rory slammed the door shut. Throwing herself onto her bed, she let the tears and sob take over her body completely. The turmoil was so great that she could only faintly hear the voice of her roommate, as she addressed their visitors. However, in her current state, the words blurred together and Rory was unable to make heads or tails of it, not that she was really trying to.

* * *

**Sunday September 5th 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:04 a.m.**

"Dean, honey, are you sure you want to go to work this morning? I'm sure Taylor would understand if you needed some time off given what happened the day before last." Isabella said, trying to per sway her son.

"Yes, mom I'm sure. Besides, work takes my mind off of things. It keeps me distracted and I get paid for it too. Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to make a pit stop at the apartment on my way home. I just hope Lindsay hasn't changed the locks just to spite me."

All three members of his family looked at him, seemingly confused. Seeing that his son was off in his own world, Jacob asked the question that befuddled them all. "Son, why would you want to go there?"

"I don't. But, I only have one change of clothes here. And unless I do something about it, I'm going to be stuck wearing the same clothes throughout the week. Somehow, I don't think either of my bosses will like that. Which is why I figured it would be a good idea to go gather my things as soon as I can."

"Why didn't you say so?" His father enquired. "You don't have to do that you know, just give me the key and I'll go pack things up for you while you're out working today. No need to put yourself in a stressful situation when it can be avoided."

"I don't know. I don't want Lindsay to come at me screeching that I took some of her things. I mean, no offence dad but you never really were all that good at figuring out what stuff belonged to me and what belonged to Clara."

"Oy, I take offence to that."

"Yeah, well a few years back I took offence to the fact that you honestly thought that the pink bicycle with the tassels on the handlebars belonged to me. Yet, you didn't hear me complaining. By the way Clara, dad did the laundry yesterday and I think he might have dumped some of your unmentionables in my drawers. Would you mind picking out your stuff?"

His sister looked up at him "Did you find a black lacy thong? Cause I've been looking all morning for that." she enquired innocently.

"Clara, you don't need to make a joke out of things" Bella chastised her daughter.

"Who said I was joking?" the girl replied.

All gazes zeroed in on Jacob "What? How am I supposed to know that? Fashion these days is confusing! Girls wear men's clothing, and men wear pink! How was I supposed to know that didn't extend to thongs?"

Dean pulled a face. "I so did not need to know that." Clara just shrugged her shoulders as she went back to painting her fingernails purple. "You see what I mean now dad. You going to fetch my stuff might just cause more trouble for nothing."

"I could go with him." His sister stated while blowing on her nails.

"Fine."

Jacob, at this point looked truly offended. "You won't send me off on my own, but when you're sister offers to tag along, you're all for it. What gives?"

"Unlike you she actually can tell what belongs to me. Just be sure to ask her before you pack anything."

Jacob snorted. "My own son is sending my daughter to supervise me while I pack his stuff, oh how the mighty have fallen."

Everyone else just rolled their eyes.

* * *

**Sunday September 5th 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Mansion) 7:25 a.m.**

"Richard...Richard...Richard where are you? I demand that you respond to me at once!" Emily Gilmore shrieked as she looked around the pool house.

"Emily you may desist that awful screechaming of yours, I was simply in the bedroom preparing myself for the day ahead. Now if I may be as bold as to enquire, might you possibly tell me why you felt it necessary to come and seek me out in such a manner. After all, we have been quite diligent in avoiding each other."

Her face quickly became solemn. "We have an urgent matter to discuss; I request your presence at breakfast this morning."

"Why? What is the matter?"

"Would you just come to breakfast and we can discuss the situation there." Emily stated exasperated.

"No Emily. I will not. I have important matters to attend to and unless you give me a firm reason as to why I should set them aside, I will be on my way now."

Furious, she turned towards him. "Fine, have it your way. I just wanted to tell you that I discovered last night that our grand-daughter is pregnant. But, please, by all means do be on your way." With a flourish, she made her way out of the pool house, leaving a pale Richard in her wake.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	12. Boxes & Packing Mishaps

**********Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Sunday September 5th 2004, Stars Hollow (Dean's apartment) 9:33 a.m.**

Jacob and Clara Forester had arrived at Dean's soon to be ex-apartment just over fifteen minutes ago. Luckily, Lindsay was not there when they arrived, and both were hoping to avoid an encounter with the slut. Deciding not to push their luck, Clara deposited her laptop bag in the bedroom, and they quickly set about packing up Dean's stuff. They started with the obvious, his clothes. Once that was done, they decided to move onto other things such as photo albums, books, CD's and more. They figured they might as well try to get as much of Dean's stuff out before Lindsay got her hands on them and threw them out. Clara had even managed to find her brother's secret stash, hidden underneath a loose plank of wood in the closet. The second her eyes set upon the familiar box her face lit up with delighted curiosity. The elusive Rory box was now in her hands, and for the first time ever, brother dearest was not around to protect its secrets. Eagerly her hands reached out to open Pandora's Box when she heard a loud noise. Frightened, she turned around to find that one of Lindsay's knickknacks had finally succumbed to the allure of gravity. Ah well, if nothing else, it would teach the vile blond not to leave her things cluttered on the edge of her armoire.

Unperturbed, she returned to the task at hand. Quietly, Clara lifted the lid off of the box and stared eagerly at its contents. Pictures of Rory seemed to be the dominant theme, however, rifling through the contents she did find a paperback or two and the occasional ticket stub from one of their dates. Then her hands had unearthed something really interesting. A letter from Rory addressed to her mom. That, was particularly odd, after all why would Dean have a letter that was addressed to Rory's mother? Intrigued, she quickly snatched the letter up, in order to examine it more closely. Looking over the envelope and at all the European stamps that littered its surface, Clara assumed that it dated from when Rory and her mother went backpacking throughout Europe. As she started to place the letter back amongst the contents of the box something caught her eye. It was the year of fabrication written across the stamps, she stared at it in shock for a few seconds before recovering. It was clearly written 2004 across a great majority of the foreign stamps.

Bewildered by the new development she stared at the envelope for a few seconds, debating on whether or not she should read it. A part of her believed that it would be wrong for her to read this letter, but another part considered this to be her sisterly duty. She was his younger sister, as such they would often clash due to the fact that he was a boy and she... well, wasn't. Dean seemed to have this false belief that he could boss her around as if he were a parental unit. Naturally, she retaliated by gathering evidence that would at times leave him in uncomfortable situations with their parents. In other words, she snooped to yank his chain, and boy was it fun. Clara guessed that was one of the main reasons she disliked Lindsay so. The girl would make her brother feel bad for the stupidest things, and punish him for even less. Don't get her wrong, she loved to watch Dean squirm under scrutiny, especially when it was their parents. But, no one, and she really meant NO one was allowed to do that to her brother but her. It was the golden rule, and Lindsay had trampled all over it. She was Dean's sister damn it! It was her duty and privilege to be a pain in her brother's arse, _hers_, not Lindsay's! Rory knew that, in fact she had even helped Clara upon occasion.

God she missed Rory.

Her fingers reached eagerly for the opening of the envelope. "Clara? Where the hell are you?" Her father yelled from the other room. "Come on it's almost time to go. Everything's packed; I just have to load it all in the car."

Looking at the envelope longingly she made her choice, Clara just hoped Dean wouldn't find out. Hastily, she stuffed the letter in the back pocket of her jeans. After making sure that the paper didn't show, she put the lid back onto the box, and got up from her seated position on the floor. As she made her way out of the bedroom, Clara's eyes was suddenly attracted towards Lindsay 'private' drawer. The blonde had always been adamant that no one, her husband especially, open the drawer in question. Apparently, the demon spawn didn't want anyone putting their hands on her tampons or beauty products. Dean had obliged to her request, if only to avoid another fight. After all, the two fought enough without adding fuel to the fire. Clara's left eyebrow rose in mischievous defiance as a smirk appeared upon her face. Opening the drawer with flourish, Clara was somewhat startled by its contents.

"Coming Dad! I just have to do get a few things first."

* * *

**Sunday September 5th 2004, Stars Hollow (Dean's apartment driveway) 11: 19 a.m.**

Making her way outside the apartment complex, she found her father waiting for her near their car. To gain his attention she declared. "Hey dad, look what I found."

Jacob looked slightly confused, never having laid eyes on the box before. "What is it?"

"It's the Rory box." Clara stated happily. "He had it hidden underneath some loose floorboards in the closet. Guess, Lindsay either didn't know about them or she thought he had fixed them. Either way, he probably put it there so princess wouldn't find it and throw a fit. I don't think the slut would have liked the idea that Dean brought pictures of Rory into their bedroom to look at when she wasn't around."

Her father suddenly looked quite interested. "What do you think is in it?"

Looking as innocent as possible, Clara muttered "Pictures and stuff I guess. Why? You want to have a peak?" she teased.

For a few seconds Jacob looked torn, before his expression cleared. "Probably best not too, I'm not sure how your brother would take to it. Let's just pack it and leave." Placing the box into the half full backseat of the car, he stated. "Well, that's done. Let's go sweetheart."

Clara nodded as she made her way towards the front of the car. She was about to open the passenger's side door when a loud screech halted her.

"What the HELL do you two think you're doing, hmm?"

The beast had returned to the lair, and brought daddy dearest with it.

"Packing away some stuff. Why? It's of no concern to you Lindsay." Jacob tried to address her in a calmly fashion. Yet her father was quite obviously irked at the interruption. After all, a few seconds more and they would have avoided this situation completely.

"WHY? Are you kidding me! You go into my home and steal MY stuff and then you have the gall to say it's none of my concern!"

By now the trio had successfully managed to attract the attention of a great number of passerby's. Miss Patty could be quite easily spotted listening intently to the argument on the other side of the street.

Clara was pissed to say the least. "Back off you bitch! In case you haven't noticed, were only taking Dean's stuff. Besides, even if we had taken everything in the apartment it's not like you could say we stole it given the fact that you never paid for anything. Face it, the only thing you own in that apartment is your clothes and a few snow globes!"

"Shut up you little brat!" Lindsay screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Clara" Her father called out her name "Time to go now." He said while opening the car door and beginning to settle himself into the driver's seat.

"You just wait a minute now Jacob Forester! Who do you and your daughter think you are, talking to my precious little girl that way? I won't stand for it." Michel Lister stated as he swiftly made his way to stand between his daughter and that vile Forester girl.

Gazing at the sneering teenager, Michel addressed the father of this insolent youth. "I demand that this daughter of yours apologises to my little Lindsay and that you return any and all things you have taken from her home immediately!"

Snorting in disbelief, Jacob turned his attention towards Clara. "Sweetheart do you want to apologise to Ms. Lister?"

"Uh... NO!" Clara declares with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

Smiling, her father says to Michel "Well then, seeing as all we have taken is my son's personal property and that my daughter is unwilling to comply to your wishes I would say that things have concluded. Now, then Clara, get in. We don't want to keep your mother waiting."

Mr. Lister's eyes rounded with fury at this man's arrogance. How dare he, do such a thing to his family! "Dad." His beloved daughter whined pleadingly. They were not going to get away with this that easily, not on his watch. Before anyone could react, he grabbed the Forester girl's arm and forcefully dragged her towards his little girl. Squeezing her arm more tightly as the girl struggled; he pushed her to her knees and barked at her, "Apologise this instant!"

"You get your hands off of her right now, Lister!" Jacob yelled furiously as he quickly got out of his car and began running over to them.

"No! Not until your little bitch apologises. You won't teach your daughter any manners, than I will! It's high time the girl learns to respect her betters!" Tightening his hold on the girl, he used his free hand to grab a fistful of Clara's hair and yanked.

"Ah!" Clara screamed in pain.

"Now apologise you filth." Michel told her as he kept his hold on her arm and her hair steady and firm. However, he soon found his grasp faltering as he was harshly punched in the face. Before, Michel could register what was happening, Jacob had tackled him to the ground eyes ablaze with fury.

* * *

**Sunday September 5 2004, Yale (Rory's dorm)11:34 a.m.**

Why oh why did the stupid phone have to ring? Couldn't it see that all she wanted to do was sleep away the day. Thankfully, she didn't have much to do today. Rory had attended her economics class earlier that morning, and, she didn't have to more classes today. Rory was perfectly content with the idea of wasting away on her bed for the rest of eternity after the disaster that was the previous week-end. Once the drama that was Emily Gilmore had finished, she had jumped into her bed and cried herself to sleep. Upon waking the next morning she had felt like the living dead, a feeling that had only grown worse over the past few days. Rory was beyond tired, her eyes were bloodshot and scratchy. To top it off her stomach was churning with dread, or maybe it was just the usual morning sickness. At this point who knew? Annoyed with the shrill sound emanating from her phone, Rory finally decided to haul her butt out of bed and answer the damn thing before it gave her a headache.

"Hello?" She said into the receiver.

"Well, if it isn't my negligent daughter, how lovely of you to finally pick up."

"Yeah, well I had a bad week-end."

"Speaking of which, is their something you want to tell me missy?"

"You know?"

"Yes, I know. And given how loud your grandmother was on the phone I'm pretty sure the US Marines, the Queen of England and the Pope knows by now too."

"God, this is such a mess." The teenager exclaimed as she plopped herself down on the bed.

"What the hell happened?"

"I kind of just blurted it out and grandma overheard."

"How can you just blurt something like that out?"

"Marty was talking to me when it happened."

"Naked guy?"

"Mom, don't call him that."

"Sorry. Okay, so you were talking to naked guy..."

Sighing Rory let it drop. "And he started asking me all these questions about boyfriends and stuff. Next thing I know he's asking me out on a date and the only thing I could think of was that I was pregnant. And then it just kind of came out on its own."

"Wow. Okay, that's got to be the weirdest answer he has ever gotten. Memorable too, I mean, not many girls say they have a bun in the oven after being asked out."

"Mom." Rory scorned her.

"Right. Back to reality now. How do you go from blurting out I'm pregnant to a guy to having my mother find out? What did you scream it out?"

"No, she was standing behind me."

"Ouch."

"Thanks." Rory said sarcastically.

"What? I'm sympathizing here babe."

"Whatever. So what did she say?"

"Huh?"

"Grandma. What did she say? I assume she didn't just call to yell at you?"

Laughing Lorelai gasps out. "You'd be surprised."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Back to me now please."

"Ouch, selfish."

"What? I said please."

"Good to see you at least got some manners."

"Back to the matter at hand now."

"Fine. They want diner."

"They?"

"Your grandmother and grandfather seemed to think it best for them to scream at me on speaker phone. Less interruptions caused by having to pass a receiver back and forth between themselves."

"Yikes, that must have been pleasant."

"Actually, it felt more like a tie between having my head bashed repeatedly with a blunt instrument and those etiquette classes your grandma forced me to take when I was seven."

"So diner?"

"They want us there at seven prompt tomorrow night"

"Tomorrow?"

"What'd you expect kid. They found out their perfect angel child has a baby on board."

"Oh god I can't do this!"

"What, the baby? Too late for that Hun, it's probably already grown limbs and organs by now."

"No, I meant diner. They're going to hate me I just know it!"

"Hey, now. Don't say that. They'll still love you, trust me. Besides, you got a plan right? You're going to finish Yale, which should make them happy enough. By the way you never did tell me what that counsellor guy said."

"I'll tell you tomorrow at diner."

"Fine..." The elder Gilmore sighed in disappointment. "By the way when is your appointment with the doctor, I'm dying to find out how my future grandchild is doing. They would probably even be able to tell us if it's a he or a she by now."

"I haven't made an appointment yet, but I'll be sure to do so before dinner tomorrow."

"Excellent." Lorelai exalted, her tone deep and slithery as a snake.

"Could you not do your impersonation of Mr. Burns right now. I don't think I'm in the mood to deal with the Simpson reference right now."

"Fine, steal all my fun away why don't you."

"Mom?" she whimpered like a child.

"Relax, everything will be fine."

"Thanks...Bye"

"Bye." Rory placed the phone back in its cradle before once more hiding underneath the bed covers.

* * *

**If you guys can believe it or not, the scene in which Clara is attacked by Lindsay's father is actually based on true events. It happened in the middle of my 8th grade english class. A fight had broken out between two senior girls and their parents had been called in. After leaving the principal's office the girl's started arguing again as they made their way to the parking lot. Our windows were facing the parking lot. And since it was summer we could hear the screaming through the windows. We tried to ignore it, but then the parents started screaming at eachother. Our teacher lost control of our class after that. We all got up to see what was going on while Mr. Lefebre went to get help in order to break off the fight. Suddenly, blondie's father grabs the red head's arm and starts shaking her like a rag doll. Red head's father tackled Blondie's dad. However, the red was caught in the middle and her wrist snapped. I remember seeing her walking around with a cast on for weeks after that!**

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	13. The Four Gossip Queens, Doose Included

**********A********uthor's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter.**

* * *

**Sunday September 5th 2004, Stars Hollow (Street corner next to magazine stand) 12:17 p.m.**

The streets were littered with townspeople, some simply passing by. Others busy exchanging pleasantries with their fellow townsfolk. The town was abuzz with the latest rumours that surrounded their community. News travelled unusually fast in Stars Hollow, and that was in part due to the fact that the small town had three gossip queens. Well, four gossip queens actually, however, Taylor didn't seem too appreciative of the title. Ms. Patty, Mrs. Cassini and Babette stood in their usual spot on the side walk in the middle of the town square discussing the latest dish. It seemed as if the Forester's and the Lister's weren't quite fond of each other at the moment. What little details available to the general public were quite scandalous, and all three couldn't wait to find out more. Miss Patty was relaying the horrid scene she had bared witness to this very morning to her fellow queens.

"... and then Michel did the most awful thing, he pulled Clara's hair. I had thought for a moment that they were going to come out by the way he was yanking at them. The poor girl was screaming and crying, yet who could blame her. Fortunately her father stepped in before that vile man could do more damage. By the time dear Jacob was finished with him he didn't dare to try and do anything else."

"Awful, stuff." Babette pitched in.

"You know, this doesn't surprise me all that much." Mrs. Cassini stated "That Lister family always did seem to think rather highly of themselves. Why, I remember when they first moved here about fifteen years ago, Michel and that wife Shannon of his wouldn't socialize with their neighbours. Why, the little trout would even turn her nose in the air and pretend she didn't hear when somebody addressed her."

"Probably remnants of their glamorous days." Miss Patty mused.

"How so?"

Looking at Misses Cassini, Patty was surprised. "What? You mean you don't know?" Silence greeted her statement. "Well apparently the Lister's used to live in some high priced little city somewhere in California. Michel was some sort of investment consultant and Shannon would spend her days planning dinner parties and events for the community. Little Lindsay would get whatever she wanted, all she had to do was ask and there it would be. However, sometime after the girl's fourth birthday Michel made a terrible investment and lost all his money and the money of his clients. He was fired immediately and could no longer afford the city life. They moved here to get away from all of the rumours and snide comments. Michel also wanted to stay near Hartford, I guess he figured that he would rise back to the top and be out of Stars Hollow before the dust settled. Apparently, he thought wrong."

"Ah well, that explains why that Lindsay girl seems to believe that the world revolves around her." Misses Cassini states.

"What do you mean; I thought the girl was sweet." Babette enquired confused.

Misses Cassini snorted. "Yes, she is, or at least in public. My dear friend Noreen lives right next door to the Lister's and every time I go over and visit her I swear that the girl couldn't possibly get any worse than she already is. I remember once a few years back, Lindsay had Julie Evans over at her house. I think they were about fourteen at the time. Anyways, the girls spent the day giggling and playing around until Mrs. Evans came to take Julie home. Afterwards, Shannon comes out of the house, and she and that daughter of hers started saying all these awful things about the girl. I left Noreen's house soon after."

"You know, I thought I had imagined it at the time, but now I'm not so sure. I distinctly remember seeing Lindsay smiling when her father mistreated that poor little girl... Oh well, I guess it runs in the family." Patty mused.

"Well, from what I heard. Lindsay and Dean are no longer together. He's back at his parents' house and a lawyer might even be involved." Babette stated.

"Oh my, my, my...makes you wonder what's going on?"

The three queens stood in silence musing over the new developments.

* * *

**Sunday September 5th 2004, Stars Hollow (Doose's Market) 2:43 p.m.**

The day had passed by pretty quickly for Dean, and in a little more than fifteen minutes he would be done for the day at Doose's. Usually he would get some hours with Tom at this time, however, his mother had insisted that he cut back on working time a tad. She'd even gone behind his back and called Tom in order to explain his situation. Naturally, after promising to tell no one, the contractor had insisted that Dean take a couple of weeks off in order to deal with the situation.

He wanted to go see Rory so badly, but considering how they had left things he was uncertain as to whether or not she would even want to see him. As always, Dean's thoughts were surrounded by her. Only now that Lindsay would soon be out of the picture, he could actually believe that one day his dreams might actually come true.

He was stacking the beans when _she _stormed in. "WHAT in the world does your father think he's doing?" Lindsay said rather loudly, seemingly uncaring of the fact that she had gained the attention of the clientele.

"What do you mean?" He asked, rather annoyed with her presence.

"I mean, coming into _our_ home, taking _our_ stuff and then insulting me before attacking my father for no good reason!"

Dean's left eyebrow rose. "Okay, firstly my dad went to the apartment to get _my_ stuff seeing as we aren't together anymore. And secondly there is no way my dad would attack your dad with no good reason. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy."

"What? What do you mean were not together anymore?"

A disbelieving look clouded his face. "Oh I don't know. Does Monday night ring a bell? Because I'm inclined to believe that's when we said our goodbyes."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, that."

"Oh, well. You don't have to worry about that anymore, everything is okay now. I forgive you, so you can just bring your stuff back at the apartment. But be sure to tell your dad that he won't be welcomed to our home until my dad accepts his apologies. Thinking about it now, you can also tell that little sister of yours to stay away. She said a few things that doesn't sit well with me, and I don't think I'm going to be ready to make nice any time soon."

Dean's eyes were wide and his mouth kept opening and closing of its own accord. It seemed he was trying to find the words to convey his emotions at this point. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I forgive you. Oh and by the way, don't forget to bring home some chocolates. These cravings have been driving me crazy."

"Cravings?" he said incredulously, not quite yet willing to believe that Lindsay actually thought that he was the one who had done something wrong. Dean was seriously wondering how he could have ever married this woman.

"Oh, yeah that's right. With everything that's been happening I forgot to tell you that I was pregnant. Ah, well now you know. So, I'll see you at home with those chocolates in a few."

Lindsay left Doose's without even glancing back. Dean just stood there, shocked as each and every one of the market's customers came up to him and congratulated him.

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Manor) 6:56 p.m.**

Unfortunately for Rory the day had passed and night had come. She now had to face one of her biggest nightmares, her grandparent's judgement. She and her mother stood in front of the front door to the manor of the Elder Gilmores. Lorelai was trying to comfort Rory by distracting her from what lay beyond that big wooden door, however, her effort was wasted.

The nausea had come back with a vengeance, and dizziness clouded her mind. Although Rory refused to let her mother see it. Lorelai would insist that they return home and put off diner until she felt better, it was a tempting idea. But Rory couldn't let herself be swayed, there was just too much at risk, too many relationships could be lost. And now would be the time, perhaps the only time for salvation.

Rory stood in silence listening to her mother's voice. "Once upon a time there was a big house, with thick glass windows and heavy stone walls and a slightly pornographic fountain in the driveway. And all the animals in the forest were scared of the house 'cause they thought that the house was haunted! And so did all the villagers in the small hamlet of Hartfordshire…ville. 'Maids go in but they never come out!' they would whisper on the street. How are we doing?"

"Keep going." Rory says smiling, despite how sick she felt.

"One day a beautiful young cowherderess walked by the house –"

"Cowherderess?" She enquires a frown marring her brow.

"Hey, we could just go in, you know." Lorelai said rather annoyed.

"Cowherderess is walking by."

"And suddenly she felt the unbearable need for a strand of pearls and a snifter of hundred-year-old Scotch! So, abandoning her cows, she climbed over the high walls and dropped onto the just-redone tiled walkway and rushed toward the enchanted French doors that the Queen had never been happy with because the hardware was not what she had picked and she refused to pay that idiot designer that she hired off of a recommendation and - okay, seriously, this didn't work when you were four. I am not sure why you thought it would do any good now." Rory simply smiles and shrugs as Lorelai sighs." It's going to be fine."

"I know."

Lorelai puts an arm around Rory and nudges her toward the door. "Come on, my little cowherderess! Do you want to press the bell or should I?"

Rory slowly presses the bell, and Lorelai takes a deep breath. Inside, a maid opens the door for them.

"Hi." The elder Gilmore girl says to the maid.

"Hello. Come in."

"Oh, thank you. See, we've been invited in. Such a great start, don't you think?"

Swiftly both girls take off their coats.

"May I take your coats?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you."

"Mister and Misses Gilmore are in the living room." Rory and Lorelai shared a look.

Anxiously both girls made their way into the living room. It was apparent the moment they entered that the elder Gilmore's meant business, for the first time in months both grandparents were standing in the same room together. What was worse was the blank, serious look they sported upon their faces. Rory had never been on the receiving end of those faces, but now she was and it terrified her.

Taking a sip of her brandy, Emily addressed the two girls standing in the hallway. "We have to talk." The words echoed ominously in the room.

The nausea just got worst.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	14. A Lawyer & 2 Families

**********Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004****, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:13 p.m.**

Dean hadn't mentioned anything to his family yet. The whole debacle at Doose's put a whole new spin on things. However, he wasn't worried about it in the least; chances are Lindsay only did it to gain attention. Thinking back on it now, he realized that his wife had been extra careful in the way she phrased things. If anything, the people that had witness the scene would be inclined to believe that _he_ was the one who had done something wrong, not the other way around. Dean didn't bother checking up on it, but he was certain that by now the news had travelled the town already. Desperately, he wished that Rory wouldn't hear of this, however unlikely it may be. After the announcement at Doose's he had made his way back home only to find out that his _wife_ had omitted a few details while addressing the town folk. It would seem as if Lindsay's innocent father had innocently injured his little sister while trying to force her to apologise to Lindsay. Nevertheless, he wasn't surprised that she had done so, Lindsay seemed to believe that she and her family were above other people and that they could do no wrong. Dean could honestly say that if he ever laid eyes on Michel Lister again, the man would find himself lucky to come out of the encounter with only a few broken ribs. Clara's forearm was covered with one large, purple hand shaped bruise. And her scalp was slightly swelling were Michel had yanked at her hair. There was also a few traces of blood and scabbing where the man had obviously managed to pull some hairs out.

He wanted out. He no longer wanted to be associated with this family. Dean was going to discuss things with his lawyer and file for divorce as soon as possible. His parents were also going to press charges against the Lister's for assault on a minor. They had taken pictures of the injuries, and Jacob had already called Miss Patty in as witness. The red headed woman was presently gathering up all the witnesses to have them testify. Speaking of Lawyers, it would seem that his has arrived. His mother quickly ushered the family lawyer into the room, and Dean soon found himself face to face with a black women in her fifties at least. She had dark curly hair that appeared to be rather unruly, and the woman seemed to have a mischievous glint about her.

"Caroline Julian, I will be your lawyer on this case. It's nice to meet you, Dean."

"Nice to meet you too misses Julian." He replied

She looked at him sardonically for a few seconds. "Honey, please, I'm not that old yet. Besides I and Mr Julian divorced a long time ago. He didn't handle not being the one wearing the pants all that well if you know what I mean." The forester's looked at the woman slightly stunned and uncertain. She however seemed unfazed. "Now let's get down to business."

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Manor) 7:29 p.m.**

"So, you will continue to attend Yale if I understand this correctly." Richard Gilmore asked his granddaughter.

Things were going more smoothly than Rory had expected at first. After they had arrived at her grandparent's house, the four of them had sat in silence staring at each other until diner was ready. Once they reached the table, however, the elder Gilmores seemed more at ease discussing the situation now that they had food to occupy their hands with. They had started off with Rory confirming her pregnancy and diverged into the subject of what would happen with Yale. "Yes, I spoke with the counsellor and he said that I should try and finish this semester's classes before I go on maternity leave. He offered me two choices; I could either wait until I'm ready and return three semesters later to finish my schooling and graduate a year and a half later. Or I could choose to continue to follow my classes through online lectures, workbooks and interactive chats with my teacher, and return to Yale for my senior year which will enable me to graduate in May 2007 like I'm supposed to. Apparently, a certain number of the female students get pregnant somewhere along their academic years at Yale and this program was specifically designed to help those who needed it. There's even a daycare center in the school that I wasn't really aware existed until recently."

Rory felt that the dizziness that clouded her vision was receding somewhat. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the nausea. Most of the food that was being served at dinner that night smelled suspiciously of Clorox.

"Oh thank god." Emily muttered relieved as she placed her utensils back down onto the table.

"And what have you chosen to do?" Richard enquired.

"I think I'm going to continue my schooling while at home. I even plan on getting a head start during the winter holidays; after all since I'll be on workbooks I can pretty much do things whenever I want to."

"And the...child how is it? What do the doctors say?"

"Well, I sort of just found out about the baby a few weeks ago, so I haven't really gotten around to going to the doctor's yet. But I have an appointment for September 17 at 10 a.m. sharp in a health and family clinic just about five minutes away from school."

"Where will you be living?" her grandmother seemed overly intrigued by the simple question.

"With mom." Rory said as her right eyebrow raised itself of its own accord, roughly confused at the direction this conversation was taking. "Why? Where else would I live?"

"Well I just thought you and the child's...father would want you to find a place of your own."

"Oh."

"I know your young but I figured whoever the boy is he would want to live under his own roof." Emily continued.

"Uh, about that..." Rory started nervously.

"What? What is it?"

"Well..."

The dizziness was coming back.

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:36 p.m.**

"Well given the case I honestly doubt that any judge in their right mind would deny you a divorce even if the tramp refuses to sign the papers. As for the assault charges, I believe that the odds are more than favourable." Caroline said. "Now, before we wrap this meeting up is there something else you would like to tell me."

"Well, Lindsay kind of came to talk to me at Doose's today."

"What? What did she want?" Bella asked her son.

"Mostly I think she just wanted to make people think that I was the bad guy. She made this big show about forgiving me and stuff. Anyways, that's not what's important; the most important thing is what she announce to the entire market before leaving."

"Go on." Caroline urged.

"She said she was pregnant."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 1st 2013.


	15. Abstenance is Best

**************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:38 a.m.**

"She said she was pregnant."

Chaos erupted, that's the only way to describe what happened next. Isabella Forester started swearing profusely, whereas Jacob stormed out of the room. A loud bang indicated that the man had retired to his basement study. Clara rolled her eyes at all the commotion, happening around her person. The girl always did know how to keep a level head in bad situations, although her parents would have much preferred it if she knew how to keep that mouth of hers shut. Unlike most people, Clara wasn't afraid of saying what was on her mind, and unfortunately that would often get her into a great deal of trouble. Caroline Julian sat calmly watching the scene unfold before her eyes. Bella was pacing all around the room letting out swear words at irregular intervals as Dean trailed behind her desperately trying to appease the agitated woman. Seeing that his efforts were being completely wasted, the young man threw his arms in the air exasperated before disappearing in the same direction as his father had moments earlier. Looking over at the teenage girl sitting beside her, the middle aged lawyer took notice of the girl's bored expression. If the young woman's appearance was anything to go by, it became quickly apparent to Caroline that this was far from being out of the ordinary. Sighing, she let her eyes wander back to the mother.

A few minutes had passed since both Forester men had left the women to their own devices, when the sound of feet stomping up stairs could be heard in the living room. Two loud voices could also be heard arguing back and forth. It would seem that Dean wanted his father to return to the living room; unfortunately it didn't seem that Jacob wanted to do so. The mother remained seemingly oblivious to the commotion taking place in the hallway, while the daughter simply rolled her eyes at the bickering men. Seconds later, Dean entered the living room, dragging his disgruntled father with him.

"Would you just listen for a second?" The young man stated in a tone of voice that clearly portrayed his annoyance at his family's theatrics. He then proceeded to forcefully push his father down onto the couch facing Caroline and Clara. "Stay," he commanded, pointing an index finger at his disobedient father. Turning his attention towards his mother, Dean quickly intercepted a swearing Bella before the woman could go into a full scale tirade. Miraculously, the nineteen year old teenager managed to steer his mother to the empty couch spot next to his father. Swiftly, Dean forced her into the seat, albeit somewhat more gently then with his father. Exhaling a deep breath, the young man rolled his shoulders a tad, obviously trying to get rid of the tension his parents little temper tantrum had caused him. Dean slowly made his way towards a lone chair that stood at the right end of both couches and seated himself. Clearing his voice, he made sure that her had the attention of all four pair of eyes and ears before he spoke up.

"The baby isn't mine." Dean stated with confidence.

A murmur of interest broke out amongst the living's room occupants. Caroline's right eyebrow rose inquiringly, while his family whispered soft words of inquiry seated around his person. All seemed more than a little pleased with the idea that they might not hold any blood ties to the Lister's.

"No offence sugar, but what makes you so sure it ain't yours?" His lawyer asked out of curiosity.

Dean was grinning like a fool, a very happy one at that. Caroline wasn't used to seeing her clients this happy until after she won their case. "I always wore a condom."

"They ain't full proof boy." The lawyer said sarcastically, honestly wondering if she'd been wrong about the boy. He didn't look stupid. But, then again if he weren't her wouldn't be using that particular excuse as his reason to deny paternity. It would seem as the other occupants of the room had realised this little factoid also. The hopeful whispers suddenly became filled with disappointment and a dash of desperation. Dean remained stoic and unfazed by the change in the room's mood. His smirking mouth seems to have gained a rather smug quality, as his twinkling eyes danced from one person to the next. Caroline knew that the boy wasn't done yet just by looking at his expression. The lawyer had a feeling she was going to enjoy whatever came out of his mouth next.

"No, but abstinence is."

All sound stopped as the occupants of the room looked at each other inquiringly before returning their attention to Dean. It was rather obvious that they all thought his statement was rather odd. "What are you saying?" Caroline asked, rather annoyed with the boy by this point. After all, the boy was nineteen and married, Caroline could only think of one reason why a man his age would say I do, and it had nothing to do with the matching wedding bands.

"What I'm saying is that Lindsay and I have been fighting a lot, and I haven't really been in the mood. She probably forgot since apparently she's been screwing around with quite a few other boys, but I haven't. We haven't had sex in awhile."

"And how long exactly does awhile mean?" Caroline was intrigued despite herself, it would seem that this case was about to get even more interesting than she had previously credited it. After all, divorces aren't usually all that entertaining once you got passed all the screaming and bickering. Most of them were remarkably alike, granted it usually was the husband that cheated.

"Well, I haven't been having sex with Lindsay ever since she found out that I've been keeping in touch with Rory. That was at the beginning of the month of March. If my math is right, and if I did father the child, Lindsay would be just about six months along. And that's only if the baby was conceived the last time we had sex. With all the disagreements we've been having since we married, our sex life averaged about once every two weeks or so, longer if I didn't give her the attention she wanted. I think by now her pregnancy would be more than a little obvious if I had fathered the child. Don't you?"

His parents and sister looked more than a little relieved at this piece of news.

"Oh thank god!" Bella exclaimed "I never thought I'd be happy about the fact that my daughter in law was such a promiscuous girl." A wide smile appeared upon her sharp yet feminine features as a giggle of happiness escaped that smiling mouth. Soon, both of his parents were off in their own world sharing a whispered conversation as the world continued on without them. Clara, however, was fidgeting where she sat, eyes bright and smiling brightly in Dean's direction. Clearly she was rather happy about the turn of events. Caroline hadn't taken her eyes off of the older Forrester's, bewildered at the fact that they had so easily accepted their son's statement. Caroline felt it was her job to bring these people back down to planet earth, lord knew if she let them drift any higher at the moment they would probably reach the pearly gates just a tad early.

"Look, this is all good and well. However, it won't be enough for a judge; Dean is going to have to take a paternity test to prove he isn't the father."

Grinning wide, the teenager simply states. "I don't see any problem with that. It's not like the test is going to come back positive anyway."

"I'll be honest with you, even if you test negative, you're still going to be put under scrutiny. In part because the judges like to see people squirm. But, what you really have to worry about is the lawyer your wife will eventually hire to defend her. Whoever this lawyer is going to be, their job will be to discredit you and make her out to be a victim. In order to keep us ahead of the curve and to prevent our opponents from gathering the element of surprise I'm going to have to ask Dean a few questions."

"What kind of questions?" Jacob enquired worriedly.

"Routine questions mostly. Where did they meet? Did anyone of you ever suspect Miss Lister's extra curricular activities? The usual suspects."

"I don't see any problem with that then." Dean replied confidently.

"Well then I believe we are done for the night. Now if you will excuse me I have divorce papers to draw up, as such I will be on my way."

Jacob, ever the gentlemen walked her out of the house and to her car.

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Manor) 7:43 p.m.**

"Well... you see, the father isn't part of the picture."

Silence reined at the diner table. Rory chanced a look at her mother sitting in front of her, Lorelai looked nervous. All in all this behaviour was not reassuring in the least. Looking towards her grandfather, the youngest of the Gilmore girls noticed his sour expression. Richard Gilmore appeared as if he had just bitten down on a raw peeled lemon. Confusion was clearly apparent in his facial features. However, as bad as grandpa looked, he seemed to be rather tamed compared with her grandmother. Emily sported a frown upon her face, eyes narrowed suspiciously and mouth set into a displeased scowl.

"What do you mean the father isn't part of the picture? Rory?" Richard spoke up, seemingly warring with confusion and anger.

"What I mean is that the situation is very difficult, and due to certain circumstances he will not be a part of this child's life."

Both grandparents looked outraged at the prospect, yet surprisingly it was her grandfather that burst out in anger. "That low life scoundrel! Oh when I get my hands on that boy, he will rue the day he was born. What's the boy's name? I'm going to teach that young man a lesson!"

"NO." Rory screeched out in panic.

"Excuse me?" Richard asked offended.

Chancing a glance at her mother, Rory took note of the encouraging expression and tried to catch herself before she made another faux pas. "No, grandpa I will not give you his name just so you can do something to him. The reason why he won't be a part of this child's life isn't because he refused to take responsibility. I've decided that given the circumstances it would be best for everyone if he wasn't aware of the child's existence."

"What? What do you mean he doesn't know? He's going to be a father for heaven's sake! How could he not know?" Emily addressed Rory with irritation.

"It's complicated and I really don't want to talk about it." The bout of dizziness was getting worse, she was starting to see two Emily Gilmore's at this point, as if one wasn't bad enough. The nausea wasn't helping matters either. Rory looked at her barely touched fillet mignon dreading the idea of eating any more of it. Lorelai's slightly concerned expression was enough to indicate that the woman knew very well what her one and only daughter was thinking at the moment. Rory was pulled out of her musings by the ever dulcet voice emanating from her left.

"Well that's just too bad Lorelai Leigh Gilmore! The fact of the matter is you are nineteen years old and pregnant! You are going to answer me when I demand an answer, am I understood young lady?" Emily screeched.

"No, I will not. I'm an adult and I have my reasons for not telling him. Now can we just drop this issue and move on."

"Rory-" Her grandmother once again began in condescending voice, however, her grandfather cut the older woman off. "Emily perhaps it would be best if we dropped the matter." Richard looked at his wife pointedly before turning his attention to Rory once more. "I would still appreciate it if you told me his name."

She felt like she would faint, and given the circumstances she was currently in that would not be a good thing. Rory looked at her mother pleadingly. Quickly understanding what her daughter was asking Lorelai nodded her head in an affirmative gesture. Taking a deep breath in order to sooth the nausea and ease the double vision, she spoke up. "I understand that you want to know, but I refuse to tell you. Now if you would excuse me I have to go, I don't feel so good at the moment. I'm sorry for everything I'm putting you guys through, but I won't be sorry for keeping my own secrets. I really have to go now."

Rory didn't know how she did it, the only thing that really matters is that she did. Somehow she managed to stand up and exit her grandparents' house with her head held high. Rory and Lorelai had made it to the safety of the old jeep before the sobs broke out. Everything just got really fuzzy for Rory after that.

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester residence) 8:02 p.m.**

Clara felt like she'd been hacked to pieces and reduced to mush after being run over by a steam truck. An enormous part of the right side of her scalp was scabbing where Michel Lister had managed to pull some hairs out. If that weren't enough, she had a giant hand size bruise on her right arm that was black and blue, and her knees felt sore after being forcefully shoved to the ground earlier that morning.

She was having a bad week.

Although Clara was very happy by the recent turn of events in her older brother's life lately, she couldn't seem to make herself jump for joy. Dean was divorcing Lindsay, what was even better was the fact that she had gotten herself knocked up by one of her men on the side. She had dreamed of this day since the first time her brother had told her about his relationship with the vile blonde. The problem was, Clara had always imagined Rory coming back and things returning to the way they always should have been. Except, now for some unknown reason Dean and Rory weren't talking. Which, in retrospect, would render Clara's dream a tad bit more difficult. She wanted Rory as a sister in law damn it! Was that so hard to understand? The truth was that their only seemed to be one good thing that had come out of this entire nightmare. After making sure that the door to her room was properly locked and that no invasion of her privacy would take place, Clara slowly pulled Rory's letter out of its hiding spot, the right rear pocket of her worn out blue jeans. Handling the small envelope as if it were a priceless heirloom Clara placed the letter gently on her desk, making sure that the surface was clean before hand. Looking at the letter's slightly wrinkled corners, her hand hesitantly reached towards the letter and attempted to smooth them out. Once she was sufficiently satisfied with the result of her work, Clara took her seat at the desk.

Moments passed by, her eyes darting nervously between the door and the letter. A debate broke out in her mind at that point. The little angel on her left shoulder told her that it would wrong of her to open this letter. It said that Dean had hidden it for a reason and that it was a private message between him and Rory. The devil sitting on her right shoulder, however, did not agree with this logic. Grinning mischievously, the horned little devil told her that if her brother was unwilling to share information, than she had every right to seek it out herself. Besides, it said, she was Dean's little sister, it was one of her many birthrights to snoop into his private things.

Needless to say, the devil won that argument.

Quickly snatching up the envelope, Clara eagerly opened it. She removed the small folded paper as gently as she could in her state of excitement. Taking one long final glance at the locked door of her room, Clara unfolded the letter and began to read.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Chapter last edited September 2nd 2013.


	16. Baby Shower

**************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Tuesday September 7 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester residence –Clara`s room) 8:11 p.m. **

Clara stared wide eyed at the piece of paper in front of her. At this point Clara was uncertain if she was reading correctly or if she suddenly needed a subscription for eye glasses. She would prefer it to be the first and not the latter, glasses just wouldn`t go well with her face. In order to make sure the teenage girl scanned over the words delicately written on the stationary paper once more.

_Dear Dean,_

_I don't even know where or how to start a letter like this. I guess the only thing I can do is just write what I think and hope you understand. You were my first in so many different ways and you mean more to me than you could possibly imagine. That night we shared together, the night of the dragon fly's test run was special, and I won't ever forget it. I doubt I could even if I wanted to. I love you and I sincerely doubt I ever stopped doing so. But, the thing is, your married. And no matter how much I love you I can't be that girl, the girl who sleeps with another woman's husband. I can't be that girl Dean, I won't be that girl. No matter how much it pains me to say this, you're not mine anymore. You haven't been for awhile now, and no matter how we put it, you and me doing what we did that night wasn't right. And although I don't regret what we did that night, I know it won't ever be right, because you are still married. As such, I've decided that it would be best for everyone involved if I were to remove myself from the equation .I hope that you'll take the time to figure out your life and move on. I'm sorry, but it's what I have to do._

_Love you always,_

_Rory Gilmore_

Nope, she hadn`t suddenly lost her twenty-twenty vision.

Suddenly realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. Most girls in her situation would be shocked to discover that their older brother had cheated on his wife. Then of course they'd start to wonder if the entire male population was nothing more than a bunch of sex craved morons or if it was just their brother that was the sex craved moron. Clara on the other hand didn`t care all that much about that, the way she saw it, brother dearest was finally starting to grow a few brain cells. What caught her attention the most was the part where Rory declared that she loved Dean. Yes, she was aware that technically speaking Rory was saying _I love you_ in a break up letter, but that didn`t matter. Clara`s train of thought was quite simple really. Dean loves Rory. Rory loves Dean. Rory can`t be with Dean because he`s married to Lindsay. Dean is divorcing Lindsay. With Lindsay out of the way Rory can come back, and things would finally be the way they should have always been. Clara was going to get the step sister she had always wanted. And Lindsay is going to be left to rot.

A grin broke out onto her face.

Life really is a funny thing when you think about. Half an hour ago Clara was convinced that today was specifically designed as a punishment for some unknown crime she had committed. Today was the day from hell, or at least it used to be.

Now, Clara was quite certain that today was the best day she had in months.

* * *

**Wednesday September 8 2004, ****Stars Hollow (Forester residence – Dean's room) 8:07 p.m.**

His cell phone rang, he shouldn't have answered it, he knew. But, it had been a long and tiresome day, so he flipped his cell open without even glancing at the caller ID.

"Dean Forester here, how may I help you?" It was official; he had spent too much time working at Doose's.

"Oh I don't know, maybe you can tell me why my husband hasn't been home the pass two days! What's wrong with you? I forgive you for being an insufferable jerk, and this is how you repay me?"

"Lindsay?" Dean exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Oh great, he remembers my name! Now why aren't you home? I've been craving chocolate for_ the last two days_."

His eyes widened comically. "You're kidding right?"

"Yes I'm just doing this for Kicks... Of course not you idiot! Now where are you? You're not at your parent's house, are you? You are, aren't you! I can't believe you went off to visit your parents and that brat sister of yours after what they did. They were disrespectful of me and my father; you shouldn't even be talking to them, especially since they haven't even apologized yet."

Dean's eyes blinked.

Hesitantly he pulled the cell phone away from his left ear and stared at it for a few seconds. Had an anvil dropped on Lindsay's head lately or was she really just that stupid. Most importantly, how stupid was he? After all he had married the woman. His left eyebrow rose and hid beneath strands of his hair; shaking himself out of his reverie he once again placed the phone to his ear.

"Lindsay, you are aware that I caught you in our bed having sex with two guys at the same time just a little over a week ago. Right?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. "Oh _that_... Ah, well that doesn't matter. I generously allowed you to have a few days to yourself, despite my fragile condition. However, you're starting to act like a spoilt child! You should have come back home, and apologised for your atrocious behaviour _days _ago. Now, with that being said, I think you are capable of grasping the error of your ways. Which brings me back to my main question, when are you coming home? You shouldn't stay with that obnoxious family of yours much longer; god only knows what kind of filth they have been filling your head with. Besides, you've been treading on a thin line the past few days; you shouldn't be giving me any more reasons to be angry with you. Also, don't forget the chocolates on your way back, they might be the only thing standing between you and a decapitation."

Scratch that, stupid didn't even begin to cover it.

"Doesn't matter? _Doesn't matter?_ Lindsay I literally caught you red handed with your mouth and pussy stuffed full of the proverbial cookies! _Explain_ to me just how it _doesn't _matter?"

"It doesn't. I'm pregnant, and you're just not the type of guy that would abandon his child like that." Lindsay's voice was firm and confident, her intonation implied annoyance. It seemed to aggravate her when she had to explain such an '_obvious'_ concept to her husband. Dean heard her sigh, and could easily imagine her rolling her eyes at him from the confines of the apartment. "Which is why you should be coming home now, the baby really wants to eat some chocolates. _Don't _forget to pick up a box on your way home." Her voice held the promise of a threat, which just aggravated Dean's gut reaction. Despite his best efforts not to, he burst out hysterically laughing.

"What? _What _are you laughing at?" The young woman on the other end of the line fumed.

That just made him laugh harder, so did the squeals of discontent coming from his soon to be ex-wife. It took a few minutes, but eventually he did manage to tone things down a bit. Once Dean believed he could talk without once more bursting out in laughter, he decided it was time to put the Misses in her place.

"You're forgetting one very important thing there Lindsay."

"Oh yeah, what would that be _Dean._" She asked petulantly.

"You've been screwing around with god only knows how many different guys. What makes you so sure that _your_ baby is mine?"

Silence was the only thing the nineteen year old man could hear. It would seem that his wife hadn't thought of that before hand. Dean decided he rather enjoyed the quiet. As such he closed the cell before his ex could reply, a wide smile gracing his lips as he did so.

* * *

**Saturday September 11 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Residence) 10:21 a.m.**

Rory was still in her room sleeping. A part of Lorelai wished that she would remain that way for the rest of the day. If Rory stayed in bed, then she wouldn`t have to face her daughter and tell her. Lorelai rarely had anything against Stars Hollow, she loved this town and she loved the people in it. But today, Lorelai just felt like swatting their heads with a rolled up newspaper. It had happened earlier on this morning. Lorelai had been hurrying off to the dragon fly with every intention of checking up on things and then taking the rest of the day off. Rory had barely come out of her room after the entire drama that had occurred at Emily and Richard Gilmore`s intervention diner. Lorelai was hoping to lure her out with the promise of a new wardrobe and a ton of books all paid and funded by yours truly. Anyways, she had been walking by the town square when she innocently stumbled onto the conversation. Miss Patty, Misses Cassini and Babette had been discussing the baby. Dean and _Lindsay`s _baby. Apparently, Lindsay had announced the wonderful news at Doose`s in the middle of the day when the small store was usually bustling with clients. There was more to the entire story apparently, something even more scandalous from what she could understand. But Lorelai didn`t stick around to find out, she`d heard enough to know her daughter was going to be devastated.

Now, here Lorelai sat silently hoping that she wouldn`t have to tell Rory. But knowing it would be better for Rory if she didn`t find out about this through the Stars Hollow rumour mill in public. Rory would have enough trouble explaining her pregnancy without bursting out in tears when she discovered that her ex boyfriend had gotten his wife pregnant. Lorelai heard the door to Rory`s room open. "Good morning mom." She hears her nineteen year old daughter say to her without the enthusiasm the girl usually has. Then again, since dinner at the grandparents, Rory hadn't really been in a giddy mood.

Rory could tell that something was up just by looking at her mother. Lorelai was unusually fidgety at this particular moment, but what really gave it away was her mother's inability to look her in the eye. Rory knew that face; it was the face Lorelai had worn when she told a five year old Rory that their pet turtle had mysteriously died.

Rory wasn't going to like this. She just knew it.

"What's wrong?" She asked her mother a tad apprehensive. However, Rory figured it would be best to get this over quick, whatever _this_ was, like ripping off a Barbie band-aid.

Lorelai acted casual, which only concerned Rory more. Her mother never acted in any other way but herself, unless the situation made her uncomfortable in some way. "Well, I was on my way to the Dragon Fly, you know? The Inn I just opened with Sookie, when I passed went to Luke's for coffee. He makes the best coffee don't you think? I managed to get four refills before he cut me off, which has to be a record. But then again, he wasn't getting any from me up until a couple of days ago. Anyways after downing my coffee I started making my way to my newly opened inn, when I noticed Mrs. Andrews roses bushes. The woman seriously knows how to handle those clippers, makes me-"

Rory was quickly growing annoyed with her mother's antics. "Mom, you're babbling. Just come out and say whatever is bothering you, will you?"

"Lindsay's pregnant." Lorelai let out in a rushed manner. Her eyes were wide and frightful, her mouth set in a concerned expression.

"What?" Rory asked dumbfounded.

"I ran into Miss Patty, Babette and Mrs. Cassini on my way to the Dragon fly. I sort of overheard them talking about how Lindsay had given Dean the news that she was pregnant while he was working at Doose's. Apparently a good majority of the town was there to congratulate him." Lorelai explained slowly, almost as if she were addressing a wounded animal rather than her pregnant nineteen year old daughter.

All Rory could think of at the moment was that this was nothing like ripping off a band-aid. She couldn't breathe her chest and heart felt like they were being crushed under a ton of weight. The worst of it all however, was the sickening feeling at the pit of her stomach.

"Are you okay...Rory?" She heard her mother ask hesitantly

"What...No...Uh, I mean yes," the youngest of the Gilmore Girls stammered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Why wouldn't I be? I mean Dean's married to Lindsay. Lindsay is Dean's wife; if anyone should be pregnant it's her, right?" She babbled.

"Rory..." Lorelai began hesitantly.

"I need to take a shower now."

Before her mother could react or even say anything, Rory had high tailed it to the bathroom. The teen managed to get the shower started and everything before she found herself forced to empty the contents of her stomach in the toilet. Slowly and somewhat mechanically she stripped out of her clothes and stepped under the warm and welcoming stream of water. Turning to face the showerhead Rory tilted her head upwards and let the water droplets pelt her in the face until she found herself practically drowning in the stream. Leisurely, she lowered her head until she could see the drain in order to catch her breath, the warm stream now attacking her neck and shoulders. Ignoring the burning sensation in her eyes and throat, Rory picked up a bar of soap and started to wash herself. The distraction was enough to momentarily keep her mind from wondering back to the latest predicament she had gotten herself into. She didn't want to think about anything for once, she just wanted to be left alone.

This particular plan of action was working quite well for her, or at least it was until her hands ran over her stomach. Immediately, her arms stilled of their own accord as her fingers grazed her abdomen...her slightly rounded abdomen. There was no doubt about it; Rory Gilmore was now the proud owner of her very own baby bump. The burning sensation intensified tenfold. Determined, Rory quite literally shook her mind out of its stupor. Regaining control of her limbs, she forced her hands to once more lather her skin with the bar of soap the left one held. It wasn't until she felt _it_ that Rory lost all control. Before she could stop it, the tears fell and the sobs escaped. Her knees buckled and she found herself slowly sinking to the bottom of the tub. Lost in her sorrow, she paid no heed to the water pelting her back as she curled up into a ball.

Rory had just felt her baby, _Dean's baby_, kick for the first time.

Outside Lorelai stood at the door quietly listening to the sound of her daughter sobbing. In this situation, Lorelai knew she could do nothing to help. However, she did have control over certain things, and she was damn well going to use it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 2nd 2013.


	17. Learn From Your Mistakes Dammit!

**************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Monday September 13 2004, Yale (School hallway) 10:21 a.m.**

Rory hadn't seen him since the night she had accidentally told him about her pregnancy. Naturally it came as quite a shock when she arrived to her dorm to see Marty standing in front of her door with a nervous smile upon his face. For a brief moment the young woman froze in place as her confused mind tried to understand the situation. Rory had been certain that Marty would avoid her at all costs after the way she had turned his invitation down. Hesitantly, the teenage girl walked up to him as she pulled her keys out of her backpack.

"Hey... I was hoping that maybe we could talk?" The gawky boy managed to stumble out, his gaze shifting from her to everywhere else, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his beige corduroy slacks. Rory placed one of the keys she owned into the lock and pushed open the door to her dorm. She gave him a small smile before indicating that he should enter with a slight nod of her head. Taking one last glance at the crowded hallway, Marty followed her in without faltering.

* * *

**Monday September 13 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Mansion) 12:17 p.m.**

They'd been having a quiet lunch as they went over the necessities when the doorbell interrupted them. Emily was astounded at their visitor's audacity. Whoever had the gall to make a social call at lunch hour without an invitation, she knew not. She did, however, know that she was going to teach that person a lesson or two in proper etiquette. Richard raised himself from his seat, the new maid didn't seem to comprehend yet that the big bell meant somebody was at the door. Sighing, Emily stood to follow him, intent on making her displeasure at this person's unannounced visit apparent upon arrival. They needn't have bothered themselves, nevertheless, for before the elder Gilmores had crossed the length of the corridor, the door burst open with a flourish. In all her years, Emily Gilmore had never been more scandalized than at this exact instance. Their visitor's impudence was beyond intolerable; surely he or she had been raised by a pack of rapid dogs. This person certainly seemed wild enough for the latter to be true.

It was at that moment that Emily Gilmore got a good look at their visitor. "Lorelai?" She squeaked out in surprised tone.

Her daughter's face looked rather odd at the moment, yet disconcertingly familiar. Her lips were pressed together tightly in an annoyed yet determined grimace. Lorelai's eyes seemed to glare at them in a fashion eerily reminiscent of an eagle preparing to attack its prey.

Then again, Emily mused, some children were simply _born _wild.

"Lorelai, what in the name of god are you doing here at such an hour?" Richard asked rather surprised. It was a known fact that their daughter avoided social calls that included her parents as often as possible.

The scowl on the young woman's face only deepened. Looking at her daughter closely, Emily suddenly realised why the expression Lorelai was sporting seemed so familiar, it was _hers_. Emily Gilmore would often be sporting that particular expression when someone had stepped out of their bounds. It disturbed her greatly to see her daughter's face marred by the expression. But, what was really worrisome was the fact that Lorelai was clearly aiming it at _them._ Their daughter did not answer Richard's question. Nor did she look back at them when she simply barged straight passed them and headed towards the sitting room. Richard and Emily shared a worried look before following Lorelai. They found her standing very close to the foyer, her head tilted upwards and her eyes staring intently at their family portrait, her back at them. Moments passed, and still Lorelai remained stock still staring at the painting in front of her.

"Lorelai, would you please tell us the meaning of this theatrical visit of yours? We have other matters to attend to."

"Do you want it to happen again?"

"What?" Emily questioned, not quite sure she understood her daughter correctly, the girl had mumbled the phrase after all.

Finally, it seemed that their daughter deemed them worthy of seeing her face, slowly Lorelai turned to face them. "Do you want it to happen again?" She asked in the same emotionless voice she had used the first time.

By now, Emily and Richard were both at a lost as to what was presently occurring. Hesitantly Richard spoke up. "Lorelai, we haven't the slightest idea as to what you are talking about. What is it exactly that is supposedly happening again?"

"Us, we are. We're happening again, only this time Rory's the one playing the lead."

Richard remained silent as Emily took over the conversation. "We do not have time for this at the moment, for once Lorelai listen to us when-"

"No!" Their daughter unceremoniously screamed. "No, you listen for once. The both of you are angry and upset and I get that. But guess what? This isn't about either one of you. This is about _my _kid, no one else. And right now my kid really needs to have her grandparents backing her up. She doesn't need you two badgering her about explanations for the mistakes she's made; she doesn't need the two of you to make her feel guilty about this whole situation. Rory's doing a terrific job of doing that on her own!"

"She's pregnant, Lorelai."

"So? So what if she is? Yes, I know she's young and, yes I know the situation is anything but perfect. But, she's still going to school, and she's still going to graduate from Yale. It's going to be harder for her I know, but this is Rory were talking about. She's going to do this and she's going to come out of it on top, with an Ivy League College diplomat to boot. Which is more then you can say for me. The point is, this isn't the end, it wasn't the end for me and it won't be for Rory. So what's the real problem here?"

"She's pregnant, and she has no intention of telling the father in order for him to take responsibility for his actions."

Lorelai looked beyond incredulous at this point. "Seriously? Are you seriously telling me this is the problem?"

"A child needs both a mother and a father, Lorelai."

Becoming increasingly upset and angered with her parents, Lorelai started losing her temper with them. "Did it ever cross your mind that maybe she has a good reason for not wanting the father of the baby to know about it?"

Emily sighed. "No, I haven't. Because, neither one of you have told us anything. All I know is that our nineteen year old granddaughter is pregnant and the two of you keep going on and on about complicated circumstances yet neither one of you would tell us what these circumstances entail. All I see is our pregnant granddaughter willingly taking all the responsibility for the situation and letting the boy that caused the entire situation in the first place off scot free. Give me one good reason why I should just stand by and accept that!"

"Because he's married!"

Silence filled the room as Lorelai cringed at what she had just done. She hadn't meant to say anything, but she was just so mad at her mother that it all just slipped out of her mouth of its own accord. Rory was going to be furious with her when she found out.

"What?" Emily intoned shock clearly apparent.

Lorelai sighed. "He's married mom. That's why Rory doesn't want him to know about the baby. It was a one time thing...well technically a two time thing that happened after Rory finished school. They were friends, had been for awhile. He and his wife were starting to fight on a regular basis; apparently he was planning on leaving her or something. They didn't mean for it to happen, it just sort of did. And it didn't happen again after that because she went to Europe with you. Once Rory fully processed what they had done, she felt so guilty that she had me give him a letter telling him that they couldn't see each other anymore and that he should try to figure things out. That's why she won't tell him, she doesn't want to cause anymore trouble than she already has. I tried to convince her to tell him, but she didn't. And now to make matters even worst, we just found out yesterday that Lindsay, the father's wife is also pregnant. So I doubt Rory's going to be telling him anytime soon."

Both grandparents remained speechless, Lorelai took full advantage of that fact. "Look, I just came here to tell you guys to not make the same mistake twice. We never really stood on common ground, but unlike me, Rory has an actual relationship with you two. One that isn't based on the two of you crowding her while she tries to get out from under your shadow. And it's important to Rory for her to keep that, but you guys have got to understand that if you don't accept the situation or her choices then you're only going to drive her away like you did with me. Don't _let_ it happen again."

Convinced that she had done all she could have, Lorelai slowly made her way out of her childhood house leaving her parents behind to sort through the wreckage.

* * *

**Monday September 13 2004, Yale (Rory's Dorm) 1:32 p.m.**

"...and then the idiot dropped it right onto the professor. You should have seen it Rory! I thought Mr. Adams was going to go on a rampage; the guy looked ready to kill Corbin. Instead he just walks out of class red faced and leaves us there. It was completely hilarious, naturally, after all this, Corbin asked one of his friends if he thought his grade was going to suffer because of it."

They were sitting on the couch talking animatedly about the newest happenings in their lives. At first Rory thought that the entire thing was going to be completely awkward. Marty, however, surprised her after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. All of a sudden he just started talking about anything and everything he seemed capable of coming up with, soon she found herself laughing with him. Rory knew that they would have to talk about the weird turn their last conversation had taken sooner or later. However, she was grateful for the momentary distraction. All too quickly, silence held them in its clutches as the laughter died away and seriousness settled in. Marty shifted in his seat, his eyes darting everywhere. As his gaze finally settled on her once more, his left hand came to scratch the back of his head while he spoke.

"Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Could we, maybe, I mean... Could we just forget that I asked you out and just pretend that nothing happened?"

The teenage girl quirked an eyebrow, yet simply said "Sure."

The boy with the cartoon hair grinned widely as relief washed over his feature quite obviously. In spite of this his reprieve seemed cut rather short as a thought entered his mind. Marty's features clouded over with worry.

"Rory?" He asked once more.

"What is it?"

"Friends?"

A smile appeared on the girl's face at this. "Of course."

Silence reigned once more as Marty nodded his head, a wide grin plastered on his face. "So...Duck Soup?"

* * *

**Tuesday September 14 2004, Yale (Rory's Dorm) 10:28 a.m.**

She was exhausted. Rory's classic literature class had run longer than usual. All she wanted to do was drop into bed, and snuggle up with her comforter. The pregnancy hormones were starting to annoy her somewhat. As of late, it seemed she could never get enough sleep. To add to her annoyance, she hadn't had a sip of coffee since she found out about the baby.

She missed it so much.

A knock on the door pulled her out of her musings. Rory simply stared at it quizzically for a moment. As far as she knew, neither she nor Paris we're expecting visitors this week, let alone today. Befuddled, she cautiously approached the door. With any luck, the individual will have moved on, and Rory could go to bed without further interruptions. Unfortunately, lady luck seemed to be of a different opinion. The unknown individual knocked thrice more, this time in rapid succession. Whoever this person was, they were obviously anxious. Sighing, Rory accepted her fate and opened the door, forgoing procrastination a moment longer. As her eyes settled upon her father, Rory wished she hadn't opened the door so innocently.

"Hey Kiddo." His expression was tight, and his smile seemed somewhat forced. In all honesty, the man looked like he was trying to swallow whole an entire pack of Sour Patches candy. "I was hoping we could talk."

* * *

**Tuesday September 14 2004, Yale (Court yard) 11:29 a.m.**

"So…What are you doing here dad?"

Rory and Christopher were walking around campus, styraphom cups of coffee in hand. Although she had no intention of drinking it, she had excepted it nonetheless. She didn't want her father becoming suspicious. After all, who ever heard of a Gilmore girl that refused a free cup of coffee? As far as Rory knew, the only time such an event occurred was when Lorelai was pregnant. She didn't want to risk her father correlating the two instances.

"I was in the neighborhood, thought it would be nice to stop by. Why? Can't a guy just visit his daughter once in a while?" His brow was furrowed, and his tone was off-putting, agitated. She began to worry that her father was already aware of her condition.

"Dad…" Rory hesitated. She wanted more time to herself, to deal with her condition without too many outside equations running interference. However, in the long run she knew, the best to do was to get it over with "You never just drop by…What's up dad?"

Christopher sighed, his left hand rubbed over his face "I've been in Hartford a lot. My dad's sick. I've had time to think, and maybe that's not good, but my dad and I, we always had that wall, you know? And, God, for us to be that way, like my dad and me? I – I don't want you visiting me when I'm old and cranky and you feel like you have to. I want you to visit now and I want you to want to. But do you know what I really want? For us to be able to talk to each other. All your life I've always been the last one to be in the loop with you. And that's my fault; I've never stuck around, or made an effort to spend time with you. Sure, I call you every other week, and we see eachother once in a while. But that's just it Rory. I don't want it to be this way; I don't want us to keep going this way. And I really don't want to have to find out things from your grandparents anymore. Especially not that my first born is pregnant and she never even bothered to tell me about it! I don't want that anymore Rory."

Hugging herself, Rory sniffled slightly, her eyes suspiciously watery "Dad…" She chocked out in a whisper, as she bit her lip indecisively. Christopher sighed, and gave her a forced smile. His eyes were weary, and his expression was at once solemn yet hopeful.

The rest of the day was tentative and awkward. For once, her father actually stuck around, and waited to meet up with her in between classes. They talked about many things, the baby, her mom, her schoolwork. But they also talked about the past. Things he'd missed while she was growing up, her birthday parties, her hobbies. Funny little stories of when she was a kid. He laughted particularly loud when she told him she'd tried to feed a peanut butter sandwish to a tree once.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 2nd 2013.


	18. Double, Double, Toil & Trouble

**************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Wednesday September 15 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 8:25 a.m.**

"The divorce papers have been drawn up, and the assault charges on Mr. Lister have been placed. I expect that the Lister's will receive their respective copies sometime this week."

It was Earlier that morning when Caroline Julian had arrived at the Forester residence. The lawyer had come to inform the family of the progress she had made on both of their cases; unfortunately, she probably should have called and set a meeting before hand. By the time Caroline had reached the Forester residence at ten passed eight, half of the family was missing in action. Jacob Forester had regrettably gotten stuck with an earlier shift that day; as such he had been long gone by the time Miss Julian knocked on his door. His daughter, Clara, was fourteen years old, and attended school; which coincidently began at eight o'clock sharp. Fortunately, Dean Forester had the day off from working at Doose's and he didn't have to be present at the construction site until noon. Thankfully, this meant that Caroline hadn't wasted all of her time. Once Bella Forester had shown the middle aged lawyer into her living room and explained the absence of her daughter and husband, the five foot four woman went off to awaken her son. Apparently the boy hadn't been getting all that much sleep since he married that Lister girl. The teenager had been too busy working shifts which often caused him to miss out on the joys of a solid eight hours of sleep. To Lindsay's annoyance, Dean's state often left him too tired to pay 'proper' attention to her needs, and it certainly didn't allow him time for recreational activities.

Five minutes later the boy arrived into the living room wearing rumpled clothes and sporting the bed hair to match. Quickly, Dean made his way towards the vacant couch located in front of his lawyer and sat down. He held his posture straight; seemingly trying to appear relaxed and at ease with the fact that he was basically sitting in front of his lawyer wearing nothing more than his PJs.

"Don't I have to sign something?" The nineteen year old boy asked after the woman before him had filled him in on the situation. He did a good job at hiding the fact that he was somewhat anxious, yet it was quite apparent that he was without a doubt utterly confused. Caroline took pity on the boy.

"Not yet, sugar, right now all we're doing is petitioning the divorce. If Miss Lister agrees to a divorce in which all parties retain their own personal assets, then you will sign. If, however, for some reason your wife doesn't want a divorce or if she feels that she deserves some kind of settlement, then it's a different matter. A court date will be set, both parties shall present their case to a judge, after which the judge will rule on favour of whomever he so chooses. He will also have the power to divide your assets as he sees fit"

"But, the judge can't deny my son a divorce can he?" Bella seemed rather perplexed as she voiced this thought out loud.

"He's a judge. He can do whatever he please and their ain't nothing we can do about it sherry. Luckily, judges rarely force a person, let alone a teenager, to stay in an unfaithful marriage if he or she doesn't want to. What we really need to worry about at the moment is the paternity of Miss Lister's child. If the baby isn't Dean's as he says it isn't, it would give the judge one more reason to rule in our favour. However, we seem to be getting ahead of our selves, for all we know the Listers will decide that the divorce agreement is fair and sign the papers without any further encouragement."

"I doubt it." Dean muttered under his breath.

Silence reigned for a few moments before Caroline decided to move on to Clara's case. The woman started explaining to his mother what would happen next as far as the assault charges went. Seeing that he was no longer needed, and wanting to be alone with his thoughts, Dean stood and made his way out of the room, and into his bedroom.

* * *

**Friday September 17 2004, New Haven (H&F Clinic) 9:59 a.m.**

Rory hadn't expected this; she hadn't expected anything at all. A few moments ago, she and her mother had innocently entered the clinic only to be faced with _this_. She didn't know how to handle the situation, and one look at Lorelai confirmed her suspicion that, in this situation at least, her mother was completely useless to her. However, Rory could not blame her mom. After all, the sight before them was completely terrifying and could easily be classified as dangerously unnatural.

There, in the middle of the prenatal waiting room, sat Emily Gilmore on a white plastic chair.

Mother and daughter shared a glance, both of them seriously contemplating ditching the clinic in favour of making another appointment at a later date. Alas, it was not meant to be. The vulture had found her prey, and the Gilmore girls could do nothing more than comply as the predator waved them over. Both girls had learned a long time ago that struggling was futile when you fell into the grasp of Emily Gilmore. Hesitantly, Rory and her mother made their way over to the elder woman and sat next to her. Rory, to her utter dismay, ended up sitting between her grandmother and Lorelai. Neither one of the three women spoke, nor did her grandmother offer any explanation as to why she was present. Emily sat with her legs crossed and palms resting upon her knees, the perfect picture of the proper lady she was. However, upon closer inspection, Rory noticed something odd about her grandmother's posture. Emily's head was tilted slightly upwards and her eyes stared unwaveringly at the ceiling. Rory's eyebrow rose inquisitively, she was surely imagining. If she didn't know her grandmother better Rory could swear that the woman was counting the tiles on the ceiling. Confused and slightly disturbed with Emily's behaviour, the teenager directed her attention to her mother. Lorelai was fidgeting in her seat, her arms tightly crossed against her chest and gaze fixated on a blank spot on the pink wall.

Rory blinked. Dumbfounded her eyes stared back and forth at both women incredulously.

"Rory Gilmore?" A nurse dressed in powder blue scrubs called out into the waiting room, pulling all three Gilmores out of their musings.

Feeling every bit like a naughty kindergarten student about to reprimanded by her teacher Rory slowly raised her hand up in order to indicate her presence. The young nurse nodded in her direction, and offered a kind smile as the youngest of the Gilmore clan stood.

"It's the second door to your left." The woman in scrubs said her finger pointing out the door in question. "Good luck Miss Gilmore." With that, the nurse disappeared through one of the three doors on the right side of the corridor.

Awkwardly, Rory awaited for her mother and grandmother to stand. Emily quickly took the lead and made her way towards the door that had been indicated. Linking their arms together and sharing a look, Rory and Lorelai trailed behind, entering the room just as silently as the elder woman before them had.

The room looked fairly enough like any other hospital room Rory had seen in her life. There was the usual medicine cabinet and CVR with stirrups attached to it. What made this room different from the others, however, was its supplementary material and its decor. The walls were painted a soft blue with the occasional Tinkerbelle here and there. The medical posters that lined the center of the room pertained to pregnancy and newborns. But, what really jumped out at Rory in this particular instance was the sonogram machine.

The youngest Gilmore was just about to inspect the piece of equipment closer when the door reserved for medical staff opened. A middle aged women wearing a white coat with sandy blond hair and rimmed glasses came in holding a folder in her left hand. Smiling at the women assembled in the room, the doctor turned her attention to the folder she held.

"Rory Gilmore?" The newcomer asked, gazing inquiringly at each Gilmore.

"That would be me." Rory states, raising her hand up in order to avoid any sort of confusion.

"Nice to meet you Rory, my name is Dr. Summer Davies. Now why don't you hop onto the examination table and well get started with a routine check up before we move on to anything else."

* * *

**Friday September 17 2004, Stars Hollow (Lister Residence) 10:34 a.m.**

"How dare they! Do these people have no morals or respect! Honestly, do those loathsome vultures truly believe that they have the right to do this to me and my family? Do they?"

Michel Lister was seething as he read the papers that had been hand delivered to himself and his daughter less than an hour ago. His blue eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he realised that the Forester family was pressing charges against him for assault on a minor. The suit was nothing more than pure rubbish! After all, that little tramp had deserved the treatment he had given her... no, that's not so... he should have just beaten her instead of simply holding her arm! And he would have gladly done so if that Neanderthal hadn't unnecessarily punched him! Why, if anything, _he_ should be the one pressing charges against those animals! Lord only knew that the safety of Stars Hollow's citizens could not be assured if people like the Foresters were allowed to run amuck in their small town. It was, however, the papers that his daughter had received, that proved just how vile that Forester family was. As unbelievable as it may sound, that scoundrel of a young man known as Dean Forester had sent his precious princess a petition for a divorce. If that wasn't bad enough, those awful people intended to take everything his baby girl had, leaving her alone and pregnant! And they expected to do so under the grounds that all assets should be divided according to their respective owners. Basically whoever paid for it gets it. If this were to happen, all his precious daughter Lindsay would be left with was the clothes on her back and the snow globe collection he had bought her throughout the years. And all this due to the fact that technically, she had not contributed financially.

Honestly, the nerve of these cretins!

His little Lindsay was now sitting in his living room crying her precious little heart out while his wife tried to comfort her in vain. This, most of all, was an unforgivable transgression. That Forester boy will not be forgiven this time, even if he does come crawling back on hands and knees. The teenager would get what was coming to him; Michel would make sure of that.

Enraged, he made his way to his study in order to call in the reinforcements. Soon, the Foresters will rue the day they had decided to abuse his family's good nature.

* * *

**Friday September 17 2004, New Haven (H&F Clinic) 10:42 a.m.**

It was a good thing the doctor had asked Lorelai and Emily to leave the room while they did the routine check up. Rory was already nervous enough as it was, she certainly didn't need her grand-mother standing there while the doctor gave her a pelvic exam. Luckily, that part didn't last all that long and they moved onto other things. Quite frankly, the youngest of the Gilmore clan just couldn't wait for all of this to be over. The fact that she was basically speaking to a stranger about her personal life, while wearing nothing more than a blue gown made out of paper only made Rory more keen on ending this appointment as soon as humanly possible.

By the time half an hour had passed Dr. Davies had done her blood pressure and blood work. The woman was now interrogating her on an approximate conception date.

"May 2."

The woman examining her looked slightly surprised by Rory's answer; one of her blond eyebrows rose slightly and hid itself underneath her bangs. "That was more than four months ago. Any reason in particular as to why you haven't had a check up yet?"

The teenager looked taken aback at the question yet answered all the same. "Uh...I sort of only found out a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't noticed anything until then, things were just...hectic."

Nodding in understanding Dr. Davies moved on with the interrogation. "Are you certain about May 2, if things are as hectic as you say...maybe you got the date wrong?"

"No, its May 2. I'm sure of it."

"No other dates?"

"Nope... It was a one time kind of thing."

"When was your last period?"

"Sometime mid April I guess... why?"

"That's the funny part about pregnancy, to get an accurate picture of far along you are, we have to start counting the weeks from when you had your last period rather than the date of conception."

"Oh."

"Well then, does your family have a history of health problems?"

"No...Well, there was a thing with my grandpa's heart a few years back. But other than that, I don't think so. Why? Is that bad?"

"I'll look into it but I doubt we have anything to worry about. Now, what about the father?"

"What?"The teenage girl gasped out in obvious shock. Rory didn't know why she was reacting this way. She wasn't dense; she had always known that the paternity would be brought up by her doctor at some point during her pregnancy. Rory just hadn't guessed it would be so soon.

Dr. Davies looked at her in concern before repeating her question "The father dear, are there any family history of health problems on the father's side?"

Breathing had become slightly more difficult at that point, that tightening feeling in heart her heart wrecking havoc on her lungs. Rory's eyes started to sting, though no tears fell. Ever since she had found out about Lindsay's pregnancy and subsequent break down, the teenage girl had avoided letting her mind wander to Dean. Yale had been a tremendous help in that department, she'd buried herself in school work. So much so that Paris, being worried about her behaviour, had deemed it appropriate to drag her to a book store in order to pull her away from her school work. Now, however, she found herself forced to face the reality of her situation, and she didn't enjoy the reminder. A familiar feeling had once again settled in her stomach.

Hello nausea, a bit behind today, aren't we?

"Uh...I`m not sure exactly...I, I don`t think so. Dean never mentioned anything about that." Rory Gilmore managed to get out as she desperately tried to ignore the wretched feeling.

"Are you alright?" The middle aged doctor asked her patient in a rather concerned manner as she noticed the colour draining from the young woman's face.

"Yes ...I'm Just nauseas."

Seemingly accepting this as an understandable answer the older woman nodded her head before proceeding. "Well... if you are as far along as you say you are, and if you fall into the text book category, the nausea should be going away in a few weeks. As for the father, you should have him come in with you next time."

Rory's eyes widened like saucers. "He can't."

"He can't? Is he busy?"

"He... I... he isn't...it was a onetime thing...he, he isn't part of the picture."

Quite abruptly, Dr. Davies seemed slightly awkward with the situation. However, being the professional she was, she deftly changed the conversation towards a happier topic.

"Why don't we take a closer look at your baby? Lie down on your back and lift your gown up." Davies awaited until Rory had followed her instructions before proceeding. "I'll be applying some gel to your stomach, you might want to prepare yourself, it is rather cold. Now, taking into account today's date and that your last period was sometime mid April I would have to say that you should be about twenty weeks along. As such I should be able to tell you the sex of your child. Would you like that?"

Rory simply nodded her head, not fully listening to what the doctor was saying. She was rather preoccupied trying to forget the whole Dean situation and the feel of the awful acid that was bumbling its way up into her throat. Truth be told she completely zone out, the only thing she knew was that the thumping sound that filled the room was oddly comforting. Somewhere along the line Rory realised that the sound was in fact her baby's heart beat coming out of the speaker plugged into the machine at her left. It soothed her, and she found the nausea diminishing slightly. Or at least it had been diminishing until she heard Dr. Davies gasp out.

Pulled out of her trance Rory was quick to react. "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, there is nothing wrong at all. Well, technically speaking at least...although this does put you the high risk pregnancy category."

"What? What does?"

Davies eyes darted from Rory and the door of the examination room, the same door that Lorelai and Emily Gilmore were waiting behind. "You Know..." The middle aged woman stated out hesitantly. "Maybe we should bring your mother in for this."

"No! What's wrong? Please, I want to know now."

Looking into the pleading blue eyes, Summer sighed. She cast one other glance at the door before returning her attention to the young woman seated before her. Smiling gently the doctor asked one simple question. "How do you feel about twins?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 2nd 2013.


	19. Footballs

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Monday September 20 2004, Yale (Rory's Room) 8:17 a.m.**

Paris had left their dorm over an hour ago for her afternoon lit class. Rory took advantage of the peace and quiet and did what any pregnant nineteen year old would do. She snuggled into her bed and cocooned herself in her thick warm blankets, preferring to forget the rest of the world in this brief moment of reprieve. Unfortunately, said world doesn't appreciate being ignored. Within minutes the present caught up with her once more, and the youngest Gilmore found herself contemplating life. Lately, Rory had found herself noticing quite a few changes in her life. She was moody, practically bipolar. Half of the time she was really happy, the other half, well, not so much. But, then again, who could blame her? She was a nineteen year old Yale student who was alone and pregnant with fraternal twins. The young woman had always believed that by the time she had a child she would have retired from the life of an international correspondent, and be well into her thirties. Needless to say, things weren't exactly going the way she had planned, when Dr. Summers told her that she was carrying not one baby, but two babies Rory had done what was expected of her. She had fallen unconscious without hesitation.

By the time she came out of it, the youngest Gilmore girl had found herself surrounded by the concerned faces of Lorelai, Emily and Dr. Summers. Rory wasn`t sure how long she`d been down for the count, she only knew that she was very grateful to have been laying down when it happened. After being forced by her grandmother to gulp down two large glasses of water, the nineteen year old girl asked her doctor to continue. The middle aged woman seemed rather hesitant in doing so, yet to her merit, didn`t question her patients wishes. It was at that moment that the Gilmores learned that the two new additions to their family would be a boy and a girl respectively. That just threw Rory for another hoop; the young woman knew that she would love her children no matter what. But... a boy, what was she supposed to do with that? Rory had always figured that she would do what her mom did with her as a child. However, she highly doubted her son would take fondly to dress up and shopping sprees, much less movie nights that would often show case _Pretty in Pink_. She didn't know how to take care of a little boy. A daughter she could handle, no problem, after all, she had the perfect role model in terms of parenting.

A son, however, was an entirely different matter in itself.

With her luck, he'd probably be exactly like Dean. Not that that was a bad thing, in fact in some aspects that would be a good thing. She knew Dean, she could handle Dean, there for she knew she could handle a miniature replica of him. The only problem was that, if her son were to be exactly like Dean, she wouldn't know what to do with him. The basis of Rory's relationship with Lorelai laid within the crazy little things they did together. It bonded them together, and the youngest Gilmore wanted to do the same with her own children. However, Dean liked sports... a lot. And it was no grand secret that Gilmores did not do well in that particular area of expertise. With a little luck, her son might inherit that trait, if not, well...she would just have to play ball then. Unfortunately, Rory was very aware of the fact that she would probably always end up being knocked on the head when her son would ask her to play catch. And then he'd be ashamed of her, all because she couldn't catch a stupid ball with anything other than her face. Of course, all of this didn't include the problems that could occur during her pregnancy due to the fact that she was carrying twins. As if she didn't already have enough to worry about.

And of course, as if things weren't bad enough, she had to go and open her mouth about the fact that the twins had started to make their presence known. She had almost been done with her appointment when one of her offspring decided to give her a kidney kick. It hadn't hurt or anything but when Dr. Summers noticed, the woman had begun asking questions. Her Doctor hadn't been happy with her once she discovered that Rory was still driving herself around. Apparently, she could no longer be trusted behind the wheel. Something about being caught unawares by a kidney shot could be detrimental to her health if she were handling any machinery.

So, on top of everything else she now had to rely on her mother, Marty, and Paris to get her to and from Yale. Life Sucks…

Sighing despondently, Rory let out a frustrated huff a she energetically tried to pry herself out of her self-imposed cocoon. After fighting with her blankets for a few minutes, the teenager finally managed to regain her freedom only to fall off her bed unceremoniously. Lifting herself up and off the floor, Rory went to prepare herself in order for her to make her way to her next class. It wouldn't look well if she were late.

* * *

**Monday September 20 2004, Stars Hollow (Lister Residence) 11:04 a.m.**

Not long after Michel Lister had retired to his study, Shannon Lister had retreated to the kitchen in order to prepare their daughter's favourite meal. The blonde teenage girl was left alone sitting on the couch of their living room, her thoughts consuming her attention. Daintily, Lindsay dabbed her eyes with the Kleenex in her left hand, sniffling a bit as she did so. Nothing was going the way it was supposed to these days. Oh why did Dean Forester had to be such a pig headed jerk! Couldn't he see how horrible he was being to her? Abandoning her in her time of need, pregnant no less! Steadily her anger grew as her thoughts began to run rampant, blaming her husband for being so callous. After all, she had always known that the boy was not good enough for her; he should be overjoyed that she had taken pity on him and accepted his marriage proposal.

At that very moment, as she let her outrage overflow her emotions, Lindsay Lister vowed that her husband would pay for his indiscretions once he inevitably came back to her crawling on his hands and knees, begging for another chance. She, of course, being the generous and forgiving woman that she was, would take him back after a suitable punishment had been carried out. Sighing, the blonde knew she was being to merciful. Especially when you took into account all the things she had put up with to date when it came to Dean Forester. Her husband's obvious feelings for that bastered Gilmore girl being one of his most prominent unsavoury characteristics, and a perfect example of the sacrifices she made for the boy. Lindsay had clearly heard him call out her name while he dreamed laying next to her at night. And although she pretended otherwise, she knew very well that her husband would keep his eyes firmly shut when they had sex in order to imagine that wretched girl laying beneath him. He'd even muttered her name on more than one occasion, and the idiot did not even seem to notice.

To add insult to injury, Dean would rarely take her out for a night on the town after they had married. Honestly, with all the things she had to forgo in order to be his wife, the least he could do was take her out! So what if he'd worked from six in the morning to ten at night! She'd spent her days sitting on the couch bored out of her mind watching whatever stupid show played on TV. The only good times she had since she'd gotten married to Dean was when she invited one or two of her lovers over for a casual afternoon fuck. And now he was trying to divorce her for indulging in the one entertainment she _did_ have? What was she supposed to do? Sit around and wait for Dean to come home in order to cater to his every need, is that what he thought she should do? For Christ sake, she was his wife not his maid! Now, however, he'd gone too far. Lindsay would not let him do this to her. There was absolutely no way that she was going to let Dean Forester divorce her and leave her without any compensation. She was pregnant damn it! He was going to pay for that. It didn't even matter to her that there was a slight chance that biologically speaking the child might not be his. All that mattered was that Dean was her husband. It was an unwritten rule that any baby that came out of her would be _his_ responsibility, no matter the true origin of its paternity.

Lindsay Lister always got what she wanted, and no one would prove that god given fact incorrect as long as she lived and breathed. She would either make her husband understand the error of his ways or she would make him regret trying to leave her. Either way suited her just fine. If she knew Michel Lister well, which proudly she did, her father was probably already working on a way to make Dean pay for his crimes. Which suited her quite nicely, but first she would allow the boy one last chance for redemption before she would start plucking the feathers out of his wings.

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**Author's Note: **Last edited September 5th 2013.


	20. Lawyers & Suits

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

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**Wednesday**** September 22 2004, Stars Hollow (Lister Residence) 9:29 a.m.**

It had been a long and tiring week-end for Michel Lister. He'd had to spend his days locked up in his study in order to finally set up a plan of attack against the Foresters. The middle aged man had called in an old friend from California to help him with his debauchery. Brent Miller was a brilliant young man, devious and under handed, the twenty eight year old would do a wonderful job of making those hooligans pay for their insolence. That was after all the main reason why Michel had hired Brent as their lawyer for this entire ordeal.

The foresters had wanted a fight, and Michel was not about to disappoint.

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**Thursday September 23 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 8:05 a.m.**

"It's official. The Lister's have hired a lawyer to represent their cases and contest the suits." Caroline Julian informed her clients.

The five all sat in the Foresters living room going over the latest progress concerning their legal cases once again. Caroline had known the second she had heard about the Lister's that they would not go down quietly. She had never met either one of the family's members, yet the rumours running amuck the small town of Stars Hollow was enough to give her a general view of things. The background check she had run of the Lister's also contributed to that fact somewhat. Most high end socialites often thought they were above the common folk, even when they could no longer afford their luxurious lifestyles.

"What cases? Honestly, my son wants a divorce and Michel Lister clearly attacked my daughter! What is there to contest?" Jacob seemed furious at the news, as he all but yelled at the middle aged lawyer. Caroline didn't take it personally; her clients often took out their frustrations her being due to the fact that she was a constant reminder of the situation they found themselves in. Unperturbed, she simply answered his question.

"The Lister's are trying to down play the assault as pure defence. Their going to try to make the judge believe that Clara unnecessarily attacked a pregnant Lindsay and that Michel was simply trying to remove her from his daughter before you came in and punched the daylights out of him. As for the matter of the divorce, the Lister's contest the _'_unjust' division of your son's assets as written in the petition. "

"Meaning?" Dean prompted his lawyer as his parents and sister all shared a disbelieving look.

"The Lister's want alimony, child support and compensations. Basically, over fifty percent of whatever money you have made so far would go directly to Lindsay to cover alimony. And that would remain so for any of your future finances, well, at least until your wife remarried. To add to that, they want child support, for which they are willing to settle at a hundred dollars a week. And last but not least they want you to pay for the apartment as long as Lindsay and her child live in it. There's also a brief mention of monetary compensation for all the pain and grief you've caused her. I have to tell you boy, you sure know how to pick them, and I don't think I've had to deal with an opponent this greedy before."

Each and every one of the Foresters snorted at that.

"There's no way I'm paying for any of that." Dean said honestly.

Caroline gave the boy a sympathetic look before proceeding with their meeting that fine morning. "Yes, well... I was sort of hoping you would say that. I wouldn't mind seeing the look on those people's faces when we beat them in court. Speaking of which, the preliminary court date has already been set for October Seventeenth at noon, so don't forget. We should also set a meeting soon in order to take care of those preliminary questions we have discussed about. It wouldn't do well if the Lister's lawyer knows more about my client than I do. How does October seventh sound? It gives you enough time to go over every aspect of your life that your wife might use against you, but also gives me enough time to find a proper rebuttal. "

"That sounds okay enough to me. But, I've got a quick question. You said something about a preliminary hearing, what do you mean by that exactly? Don't we just go in and get it over with?"

Sighing the elder woman seemed to think the question over for a few moments. "Unfortunately not, well, at least not in your case. As I've said before, the judge won't care if you say that you can't be the father of Lindsay's child because the timing doesn't fit, he'll just care about the facts. That is why he will probably have a paternity test done in order to determine if your wife should have child support. Regrettably, when it comes to legal jurisdiction, those things tend to take a few weeks before being processed. Then of course there's all the bickering over asset division that's going to take place. I wouldn't count on you getting the divorce papers signed until Thanksgiving. Sorry."

Sighing, Dean looks at Caroline somewhat dejectedly. "Is there anything else I should know?"

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**Author's Note: **Last edited September 5th 2013.


	21. Construction Shows & The Daily News

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

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**Thursday September 23 2004, Stars Hollow (Stars Hollow historical bridge) 12:26 p.m.**

Dean couldn't believe she was doing this. Couldn't Lindsay take a hint of any kind? Apparently not, since the blonde had decided to show up at the construction site where he worked. He stared at his wife incredulously as she strode up to him purposely, a self righteous aura surrounding her person. Lindsay seemed clearly confident in her miss guided delusion that she was in any way, shape, or form wanted there. He'd halted in his work the moment he'd seen her arrive on the site, truly wanting to believe that he was imagining things. Yet there she stood, a few feet away from him, on the other side of his sawing table. She'd remained silent long enough for him to notice that the construction site had become unnaturally quiet. Sparing a quick glance at the surrounding area, Dean quickly understood the reason behind the sudden stillness. He'd known that his construction buddies had heard from the Stars Hollow's rumour mill the few tidbits of information that had been available to the general public. From what he could understand, nobody in town knew exactly what was going on between his wife and himself. All that was known was that Lindsay was pregnant and that for some inexplicable reason the Lister's and the Foresters didn't seem too fond of each other all of a sudden.

The men bold enough to enquire about the state of his affairs had simply received a stoic look from the young man. It irked Dean quite tremendously that his fellow coworkers had already started teasing about his supposedly impending fatherhood. He loathed it whenever they would call Lindsay's unborn child _his_. Although, he didn't bother correcting them, everyone would find out the truth soon enough. He didn't need to go around advertizing that his wife had been screwing around on him the entire time they'd been together.

"I'm giving you one last chance Dean. You and you're family have been awful to me and my parents, and I doubt I will ever be able to forgive those awful people for what they've done. I am, however pregnant, which means we should try to make things work. I've been more than patient with you; truthfully I probably shouldn't even consider taking you back after everything you've done. Then again, I'm a caring and forgiving girl, which is why I have decided to come here and to ask you to come home. I'm not saying I forgive you or that we'll just pretend that nothing happened. Make no mistake I'm angry at you and you will be sleeping on the couch. Yet, for the sake of the baby, I might find it in my heart to forgive you with time."

Lindsay's face was grave and seemed to overflow with sadness; and all in all it was a truly beautiful speech. Too bad it was nothing more than a load of bullshit delivered by a two faced lying bitch. Glancing around, Dean could see quite easily that each and every one of the members on the construction crew was listening intently, probably deriving their own theories as the conversation progressed. His wife was doing a wonderful job of painting him in a bad light for all of his co-workers to hear.

"What are you doing here Lindsay?" His voice was laced with bitterness as he asked the question. Lindsay didn't seem too approving of the tone of his voice, yet did not mention anything about it. It would seem that the blonde would prefer to continue with her role as the innocent damsel that had been victimized by her cold hearted husband.

"I came here to talk to you about the possibility of giving you a second chance."

Although he doubted anyone else had noticed it, Dean had heard the slight hint of annoyance in Lindsay's voice. Her eyes had also narrowed slightly and her lips were pressed together tightly in order to keep from spewing out any self righteous bullshit. If she reacted the same way she always did whenever they would fight, all he had to do was give her a slight nudge and she'd start showing her true colours.

"Why would you do that?"

Lindsay's carefully composed face turned from forgiving wife to glowering harpy. Her eyes blazed with furry as she gritted her teeth. Dean could swear he could hear her growling under her breath.

"Oh, I don't know... I thought maybe I should see if I could sway my husband to retrieve his selfish head out of his ass. But I seem to be having no such luck." The petite blonde crossed her arms in front of her chest, the action creating a clear emphasis on her displeasure.

Clenching his jaw, Dean decided that it was best to get this over with if he had any hopes of getting rid of her anytime soon. "What do you want Lindsay?"

"I want my husband to put on his big boy pants and deal with the consequences of his actions. I can't believe how immature you are sometimes. I mean what kind of man has a fight with his wife and then goes running home to mommy and daddy. You didn't even have the courage to come home the next morning and apologise like any real man would. Instead, you go and send your father and bratty little sister to go and collect your things from our home when I'm not there. To make things even worse you're little sister insulted me and then that Neanderthal father of yours attacked my daddy without any reason too. A part of me thinks your father just wanted something to punch and my dad's face was confidently located nearby! And this morning! I can't believe what you did this morning! You actually served me a petition for divorce! A petition for divorce that, if I were stupid enough to agree with, would leave me broke and homeless with a baby coming along the way. Seriously, how could you even think of doing something like that? And then I turn around only to discover that your parents are suing my dad for an alleged assault on your sister. What's wrong with you? What's wrong with your family? Have you no sense of what is right and what is wrong?"

Dean was bored by now; Lindsay seemed to be under the false impression that she could never be wrong. Worse, she thought that if she said something often enough, then it would ultimately be true. He'd had enough of this melodrama for today. It was time to send the wife packing.

"Are you done yet? In case you hadn't noticed I was kind of busy before you came around. I have to get back to work."

That seemed to do the trick. There she blows!

"You self centered bastard! How could you treat me this way? I'm your wife you idiot. That bitch Rory might have put up with your melodramatic shit but I sure as hell won't!"

Dean knew he should probably keep his calm, but Lindsay's comment made him see fifty different shades of red. Amazingly enough he did manage to keep the message tame enough, although he didn't know if the dangerous edge in his voice ultimately annulled that effect."You keep your mouth shut about her. You have no right to insult her today or any other day of your life."

"You see! You see how you treat me Dean. I don't know how you could ever hope to be a good father to _my_ children if you don't change your attitude and treat me right."

Snorting he replied. "A special emphasis should be put on _your_ children Lindsay."

"I didn't get pregnant on my own Dean Forester!"

"I know, if you recall, that's part of the problem."

Her mouth flapped open like a fish before the petite blonde regained her composure. Growling angrily she glared at her husband and stomped furiously towards her father's car. Before she entered the vehicle Lindsay turned around unable to keep herself from having the last word.

"You'll regret this Dean Forester." The angry screech echoed on the construction site as she entered the car. Unfazed Dean rebutted.

"I've been regretting it since the day I got down on one knee."

A frustrated yell was heard be before the car door slammed and the tires squealed in protest as the pedal was pushed to the metal.

* * *

**Friday September 242004, Yale (Daily News) 10:37 a.m.**

"So your grandparents finally called after being AWOL for the past week."

Rory had hoped to escape any form of questioning on that particular day. Unfortunately, her prayers were to be left unanswered. Ever since Paris had been informed of her condition, the blond girl seemed overly interested in the state of affairs in Rory's life. The young brunet honestly believes that her roommate could do with a new boyfriend, if only to distract her peer.

"Unfortunately." The young Gilmore replies somewhat dejectedly.

"Any idea as to what they want?" Paris powers on.

"They want dinner tonight with my mom and I, apparently. I didn't exactly talk to either one of them, grandma called mom yesterday afternoon to inform her that they would be free for Friday night dinner that week. It's kind of weird actually, ever since my appointment at the clinic they've both been doing their best to avoid us. No diners, no phone calls, not even a fax or an e-mail. All in all they've been doing a terrific job of ignoring us for the past two weeks, and now all of a sudden they want to eat fillet mignon with us."

Paris nods her head in understanding and for a few moments, silence prevails as the blond looks over some of her notes. Then, just when Rory believes it to be over, the interrogation begins once more.

"Speaking of which, any news on the twins?"

Rory gave the blonde a scathing look. "Paris! We're in the newsroom."

"Oh, come on Rory. You know as well as I do that everyone here has been aware of your _condition_ since you accidently announced it at Asher's wake. We're in the middle of a newsroom, did you honestly think that something like this was just going to go over their heads? Besides, you might as well embrace it, your baggy clothes aren't cutting it any more. You're starting to show. Soon you'll have to get yourself a new wardrobe. Why else do you think that all of the news staff is suddenly keeping an eye on you, trying to make sure you don't get run over by some photographer hyped up on one of his shots?"

As much as Rory loathed to do so, she had to admit that Paris was right. She'd noticed subtle changes in her journalism peers attitude towards her the past two weeks. Her editor, Doyle, who was usually very strict about his journalists being punctual had not thrown a tantrum when she had arrived five minutes late to a meeting last Monday. Instead he had just let it slide off of him like water and didn't even mention the ordeal at a later date. And earlier that morning, as she was attending to the printer's needs, Alex took the heavy box of paper refill out her hands and told her not to worry, that he would personally take care of it. The blonde boy had then proceeded to send her off to her desk.

Had she suddenly become some sort of invalid?

Sighing, Rory answered her friend's question. "No. There really isn't anything new from what you already know. I'm twenty three weeks along, and given the fact that it's a twin pregnancy, I'm automatically shuffled into the high risk category. There's also the fact that I'm underweight in terms of the norm for twin pregnancy. That's why doctor Summers insist on seeing me every two weeks in order to make sure everything is going well. As a matter of fact I happen to have an appointment next week, so I'll probably have more news to tell you then. Also, Dr. Summers won't allow my pregnancy to go any longer than thirty six weeks due to my age and the fact that I'm having multiples. Because of this I know for a fact that I'll be toting around two newborns for the New Year. I can't really think of anything else to tell you right now."

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**Author's Note: **Last edited September 5th 2013.


	22. Her Town

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

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**Friday September 24 2004, ****Stars Hollow (main street) 1:23 p.m.**

Lindsay liked to consider herself a woman of worldly qualities, of which, intelligence was one of them. The blonde had hoped to get her useless husband to see the light. Unfortunately, the boy was as dumb as a mule. Dean Forester obviously had never appreciated how lucky he was that she had given him her hand in marriage. Truthfully, she had only started to date him in order to get back at Rory Gilmore. Most people would say that her obsessions were idiotic and pointless, yet most people were wrong. Lindsay should have been Stars Hollow's golden girl. She'd been sweet, innocent and understanding. It didn't matter that all of the things she had listed above were less than genuine. She had played the part well and fooled all of Stars Hollow's citizens. The title was rightfully hers, and yet, for some unknown reason, she was bypassed in favour of a bastard girl who spent her time reading. In her own personal opinion Rory Gilmore could never aspire to be as perfect as she, no matter what the rest of the town thought. Lindsay had played nice with the Gilmore girl when they were younger. She had done so, because she had believed that the town had come to realize their lapse in judgement. The young blond had wanted to appear as if she had generously allowed Gilmore to keep her title simply because she was just that nice. Then once the crown was returned to its rightful owner, Lindsay would have made sure to keep Gilmore in her line of sight, less the girl tried to swindle her title away once more. Honestly, she shouldn`t of had to wait for all this to happen, the crown should have been given to her upon her arrival to Stars Hollow back when she was five years old.

Bewildering as it may be, none of the above ever happened. Rory Gilmore remained the town sweetheart, wilst Lindsay was forced to play second fiddle to the daughter of a tramp that would spread her legs upon demand for every Tom, Dick and Harry that walked by that shabby little tool shed they'd inhabited for the better part of a decade. Worse, that Gilmore bitch still kept the title, even after she had run off to attend a prestigious prep school in Hartford. Once Lindsay had heard that Gilmore and her boyfriend weren`t dating anymore she had jumped at the chance for revenge. She`d known from the beginning that Dean still loved the bastard, which is why Lindsay hadn't bothered remaining faithful. The blonde teenager had figured she`d keep the boy around long enough to make Gilmore jealous, after which she would dispose of him like the trash he was. However, Dean proposed to her. That must have been one hell of a shot to Gilmore`s ego. Lindsay had accomplished more with Dean in a matter of three months than perfect Rory had in three years. She had accepted of course. After all, the only thing worse than seeing your ex dating someone else, is to see them marry that someone else. And so, Lindsay could finally claim that she had something over Gilmore.

But now, however, Deanny boy wasn`t playing nice. And the blonde wasn`t about to let her husband destroy all she had accomplished in the many years she had lived in Stars Hollow. Dean Wouldn`t cooperate with her, as common sense dictated he should. That was no problem to her, Lindsay knew how to play dirty, and it was high time she began evening the score with her husband. The first thing she needed to do was gain the sympathy of her fellow townspeople. It should be an easily accomplished feat, everybody had turned on Dean when he`d broken up with Gilmore. They will do the same for her, after all, with Rory at Yale most of the time; her crown was ripe for the picking. Lindsay had found the gossip queens easily enough; now all she had to do was act the part. The blonde waited until her eyes were brimming with tears and her nose was slightly runny before continuing. The plan was simple enough; she would clutch her arms around her abdomen and keep her head down as she walked. Lindsay would then _accidentally_ bump into Miss Patty. Being a curious woman, the red headed dance teacher would enquire why the girl was crying. The blonde would pretend to avoid the question before it would all come tumbling out of her lips in a wave of grief.

By the end of the day, everyone in Stars Hollow would know about what Dean had done. They would know that he ignored her after they had married; often abusing her verbally in the middle of the night due to the fact that she couldn't _measure up_ to his perfect little Rory. And most importantly, they would know that Dean was leaving her broke and pregnant with his child. It was a perfect plan, and no one would contradict her. She might even finally get her crown thanks to the sympathy vote.

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**Friday September 24 2004, Hartford (Gilmore Mansion) 9:23 p.m.**

"That was beyond weird."

"Tell me about it." Rory said as she and her mother exited Richard and Emily Gilmore's home baffled at the vents that had taken place that night.

"I swear you're grandparents keep getting creepier and creepier very year. I thought it was bad enough when you're grandfather practically gave me heart attack as he started talking about college funds for the twins. Then my mother walks in, and I find myself in a whole new world of weird. Seriously, what was with the smiling and the desire to know every freaking detail of your condition? And the sudden bout of baby mania, oh my god! I thought she'd never shut up about cradles and high chairs. I wouldn't have been surprised if she dragged you away to go baby shopping before we'd even finished with the entree."

Rory's nose crinkled at the unpleasant imagery her mother had painted. Nonetheless, her face didn't start to frown until a thought entered her mind. "Personally, I think it didn't get all that bad until grandma took out the baby pictures. That's when she started asking me if she had to worry about her great grandchildren inheriting some unsightly physical features from their father's side."

"That's my mother for you. She can't get a name out of you, so she tries to get a mug shot instead. Don't worry about it, Emily Gilmore has the tendency of wanting to control everything. This was just your grandmother's way of establishing a false sense of power over the situation." Lorelai rolled her eyes at her mother's obsessive behaviour, sometimes she truly wondered if she was perhaps accidentally switched at birth.

Sighing the youngest Gilmore girl cast a tired glance at Lorelai before proceeding to her vehicle. "Well, at least its over and done with for another week."

"Amen to that sister." The elder woman replied as she opened the door of her jeep.

* * *

**Saturday September 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence- Dean's room) 8:57 a.m.**

A stack of magazines fell to the floor with a loud thud as he literally pushed them off his desk. Dean might of handled the situation better if it weren't so dire. As it was, he couldn't calm himself down long enough to build up a little more finesse. If his mother had been there, she would have given him an earful about handling his possessions better. Luckily for him the young man had the house to himself this not so lovely morning. Ironically, things had actually been looking well when he first woke up. Dean didn't have to go to work at all that day, he'd even started cutting back his hours slightly. Amazingly enough both Taylor and Tom were pleased with this. Apparently they'd been slightly concerned about the haggard appearance he'd been sporting since he'd first began working with the construction crew. To make things even better, Clara had gone over to friend's house, and his parents were gone shopping for furniture. He was left by his lonesome, an occurrence that happened quite rarely ever since Lindsay had come into the picture. As such he did what he always did when he was alone long enough to catch his breath. Dean took out the Rory box that was hidden underneath his bed; he wanted it to always be easily accessible. The only exception to that rule was when he and Lindsay had moved in together. The young man had taken a tip from Lane's book and hid the box underneath some loose floorboards in their closet.

As riffled through the box's contents slowly, Dean eventually noticed something. A letter was missing. This under any other circumstances would not be a major problem; however, it wasn't just any letter that was missing. It was the letter. The one in which Rory broke off their affair due to her morals. Disbelievingly, the boy literally ransacked the box in order to find the small envelope. When it didn't turn up, he brought the box to his bed and flipped it over, all of its contents landing on his mattress. Quickly he scoured the pile hoping he had missed it somehow. Unfortunately, his search soon proved that there was nothing wrong with his eyesight. Panicked, Dean started looking everywhere he could think of. He practically tore his room apart looking for that one single piece of paper, but to no avail. His bedroom was by now a complete disaster. Most of the floor was covered by some fallen object or another. And he had, on more than one occasion, kicked the objects in his frustration as they rallied against him in order to make the teen trip. Dean had already fallen face first on the floor once; he wasn't looking to repeat that experience twice in the same day.

After two gruelling hours of searching, Dean finally accepted the truth. No matter how much he destroyed his bedroom, the letter would not be found. Finding a clear spot at the foot of his bed, Dean sat himself down a dejected look overcoming his facial features. Sighing, he brought his knees up and rested his elbows on them. Tired, he hid his face in his hand and tried to rub the fatigue out of his eyes.

Unconsciously, he hoped that the letter hadn't fallen into Lindsay's hands.

* * *

**Sunday September 26 2004, Stars Hollow (Town Square) 11:05 a.m.**

This was not happening. It couldn't be happening; surely life wouldn't be so cruel to her? Unfortunately it seemed that life was intent on kicking Rory when she was down. Somebody up there must really hate her. The youngest of the Gilmores had decided to visit her friendly neighbourhood bookstore in order to see if anything new had come in. At first the girl wasn't sure if it was a good idea given her current condition. Her stomach had been expanding at an alarming rate lately. It was coming to the point where most of her clothes - fat ones included, didn't fit. Worse, her rounded stomach could hardly be missed in most of her outfist, which wasn't surprising due to the fact that she was twenty four weeks along. Since her condition was becoming more and more obvious, Rory had slowly yet surely avoided going into town, much to Lorelai's displeasure. Not even the promise of Luke's cheeseburger was able to pull her away from the house; her mother had resorted to bringing the food back to their house. However, Lorelai was presently working at the Dragon fly. With no one to entertain her, the nineteen year old soon grew quite bored just sitting around at home. It soon became clear that the only source of amusement available would be in town. Under any other circumstances Rory would have driven to Hartford to do some shopping, regrettably that was no longer an option. She'd made the mistake of telling her Doctor on the first appointment that the babies had started kicking every few hours, and that the inside hits were getting rather painful.

The specialist had told her it was normal seeing as her uterus was getting rather crowded with two babies growing inside of it. Rory's age and size also seemed to factor into that particular equation. Nonetheless when Dr. Summers was not pleased when she discovered that the teen was driving on regular basis. Apparently, driving was no longer something she could do safely with the kicks the twins had been delivering to her guts, so she had been banned from her mode of transportation for the past two weeks. And so Rory Gilmore found herself forbidden from driving her own car. As if that wasn't bad enough, she had to rely on other people to get her from place to place. Marty would drive her back and forth between Yale and Stars Hollow on the week-ends since he had to pass through town in order to reach his home. Sometimes he would stick around awhile so that they could hang out, which garnered curious looks from the town folk, but thankfully nothing weird has taken place…yet. And of course Lorelai was more than happy to accommodate Rory's needs when she wasn't working. As for Yale, well Paris and Marty would take turns playing taxi driver, so it wasn't all that bad. And she appreciated it very much, yet it was annoying her that she could no longer travel without assistance.

This particular fact became even more so apparent this morning, when she found herself bored beyond words, yet without someone to drive her around. Lorelai was working, Marty was visiting his parents and Paris had some kind of pre-med convention to attend. Rory supposed she could simply take a bus to Hartford, yet the idea seemed rather unappealing at that particular moment. Probably because she doubted the old bus smell would sit well with her fickle stomach, the slightest scents could make her nauseous these days. As such, she'd decided to put her fears behind her and visit the town she loved. The teenager had found the largest Tee she owned and put it on. Sadly, it was not enough. Although the T-shirt was very large, it still didn't manage to dissimilate her baby bump, much less pass it off as anything other than what it was. Turning her room upside down, the girl finally found something that would help her mou mou. She hadn't worn the white knit sweater since she'd been fifteen, yet Rory found it to still be in serviceable shape. Best of all, she didn't look pregnant wearing it. Don't get her wrong, she still looked as if she'd gained quite a few pounds around the waist. In spite of this, the tell tale roundness of her stomach wasn't as visible, which meant she could pass the excess off as a simple weight gain.

Armed with a confidence she did not possess Rory made her way out to town. And for the first half of the morning, everything was fine, setting aside a few comments on her new figure. Thankfully none of her fellow citizens asked too many questions, and she highly doubted they had discovered the reason behind her sudden influx of weight. In fact most people seemed rather preoccupied with this month's gossip. One glimpse at Miss Patty as she walked by the news stand confirmed Rory's belief that whatever was going on, it was juicy. She hadn't seen the town this hyped up since the first time her father had come to Stars Hollow. Although she was slightly curious, the nineteen year old paid no heed to the gossiping citizens, and continued towards the bookstore. Rory had been about to enter the bookstore when she saw him across the street, naturally, one glance and she found herself frozen to the spot. There, a few feet away from her, stood Dean Forester conversing with a man that seemed to be one of his construction crew buddies. Fortunately the six foot three brunet was too wrapped up with his conversation to notice her gawking at him thirty feet away. He looked striking even if he was dressed in worn clothes and his face was smudged with slight traces of oil. He'd cut his hair, although it was still rather on the floppy side, which in her humble opinion, made him look adorable. The pregnant teen found herself wanting to go over to him and give him a kiss on the lips.

Then she remembered once again that he wasn't hers to kiss. Dean was married to Lindsay. Lindsay, a blonde girl who was also pregnant with Dean's child, although Rory had two. That's when the pain came back, her heart ached, her eyes stung and her lungs burned. Rory was also quite certain that the twins were kicking up a storm if the pain in her stomach was any indication. Unable to look at Dean's smiling face any longer, the teenager did the only thing she could think of doing at the moment. She turned around and ran to the best of her ability, once more hiding herself from the world.

It wasn't until she'd reached the safety of her house that Rory finally realised one very important thing.

Stars Hollow was her town, and she was tired of hiding from it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 5th 2013.


	23. Boyfriends & Sluts

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Monday September 27 2004, Stars Hollow 1:51 p.m.**

There's a new rumor going around in town. Nobody knew exactly where it had come from, perhaps the queens of the rumor mill decided to leak this one to the general public. Maybe it was purely based upon the rampant imaginations of Babbette, or perhaps the rumor held some truth. No one really knew, and honestly no one really cared. Besides, what other explanation could there be? Babette had been the first one to notice the strange young man that dropped Rory off at home a few week-ends back. Although she had been curious as to who the boy might be, initially the woman thought nothing of it. Perhaps Rory's car was in the shop, and a friend had offered a ride home. The curly haired brunet had stayed no more than half an hour, only the time it took to help Rory with her bags and get through the usual niceties. The same thing happened that very Sunday when he once more arrived at the Gilmore residence, this time however, he was taking the youngest back to school.

Babette had reported this incident to her fellow gossip women. All had been curious about whom the boy had been, yet all had thought that the phenomenon had been an isolated occurrence. They had all been certain that Rory Gilmore had simply been in need of a ride, and that whoever this boy might be, he was simply being a gentleman. But then he came back…The second the boy dropped Rory off had progressed somewhat in the same manner as the last, only with one major difference. The boy had stayed for several hours that day. Most of that time had been spent walking around town with Rory simply hanging out and joking around.

Their interest had been picked.

When Miss Patty sureptiously extracted information out of Lorelai that following Sunday morning, the queens had learned a great deal. The boy was just a friend, a friend named Marty who offered Rory a ride home so she could save money on gas. Apparently the boy would be passing through on his way home anyway. They all knew what that meant. After all, the phenomenon was nothing new for the youngest Gilmore. Dean had been just a friend in the beginning, and she ended up dating him for three years. The same had been true with that Jess Mariano kid. However, their suspicions had not been confirmed until Sunday afternoon, when Marty came to pick her up. As he arrived, Rory took him in a hug and patted him on the head. To make matters even more interesting, the boy hadn't let her near her baggage, Babette had observed. He didn't want her to strain herself for some reason. Marty had stayed for an hour once all baggage's had been brought inside. It was practically official, even if it had yet to be confirmed.

Rory Gilmore had a new boyfriend.

* * *

**Tuesday September 28 2004, Stars Hollow (Town Square) 9:09 a.m.**

Shannon Lister had always prided herself on being nothing less than impeccable while in the public eye. Everything she did was efficient and graceful unlike everyone else in this two bit hay pit of a town she presently inhabited. Shannon was, after all, raised as a very prominent lady. And everybody knows that a lady is always perfect. She'd been walking by the flower shop when she saw that woman standing there talking to a florist. Now, Shannon never engaged in arguments in a public area. To do so would be improper and unlady like of her. However, when she saw Bella Forester standing there, something inside her snapped.

Shannon swiftly made her way towards the dark haired woman, hell bent of giving the trout a piece of her mind. Glancing at her surroundings quickly, Mrs. Lister soon noticed that Miss Patty was talking to Kirk only a few feet away from where Forester was standing. Hastily, the woman decided to make her speech quick and efficient before walking away. It wouldn't do to get the town talking about this horrid ordeal. Shannon cleared her throat in order to grab Bella Forester's attention. As soon as the woman saw her, an annoyed expression clouded her face.

"What do you want Lister?"

That bitch! She didn't even try to keep her voice low; she must have purposely done so in order to embarrass her in front of their fellow townsmen. And by the look of things, her plan had worked for Miss Patty was now curiously inching closer to them. Shannon wouldn't let this woman get away with such insolence.

"You're family is despicable! What you're doing to my daughter and husband is atrocious. I came here to tell you to put an end to this nonsense or I will find myself obligated to tell the entire town of your wretched conniving ways."

Satisfied that she had put the fear of god into this impertinent commoner, Shannon turned to make her way back to the flower shop. The blonde woman certainly hadn't expected the bitch to laugh merrily at her threat. Incensed Mrs. Lister returned her attention towards her opponent just in time to see the woman smirking condescendingly.

"What are you going to tell them, huh? That my son found your daughter having sex in their bed with two strange men? Or are you going to tell them she admitted to having been unfaithful to my son the entire time they've been together, married or otherwise. Or how about the fact that Lindsay's going around advertising that my son is about to become a father when the child she's carrying is in all likelihood not even his. Better yet, why don't you tell them all about how you're daughter is going around trying to make my son out to be the villain? All this in a vain attempt to gain some form of sympathy from our fellow citizens. Go a head Lister; it makes no difference to me."

Before Shannon could regain her voice and scream at the bitch in indignation Bella Forester had turned around and left her standing there with her mouth flapping open like an idiot.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 5th 2013.


	24. Interviews & Surprises

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Friday October 1 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 8:57 a.m.**

The day finally arrived - Dean thought to himself morosely. He had not been looking forward to this particular part, especially due to the fact that Rory`s letter was missing. The twenty year old man didn`t relish the idea of spilling each and every one of his secrets to a complete stranger as his family sat by encouraging him to continue. Unfortunately, it was something he was going to have to do if he wanted to get a divorce from Lindsay. He just wished he didn`t have to do this. Sighing, he gave his reflection another once over, tugging at his flannel blue button up shirt for good measure. Warily Dean exited the safe confines of his room and made his way down the stairwell. It was time for him meet his maker, pausing at the stairwell he mumbled morosely to himself. The sight that greeted him as he entered the sitting room did nothing to calm his strained nerves. Not only was his lawyer already present and accounted for, but his entire family was in attendance. To his utter irritation, Clara seemed to be overly eager for the conversation that was about to take place, the brat was even smiling. Somehow, Dean vowed he`d get back at her one of these days. His little sister had gotten in the habit of always getting one over him lately; the entire thing was starting to get annoying to say the least.

"Good morning sugar, now if you sit down we can get this over as quickly and painlessly as possible." Caroline Julian told him as she indicated his assigned seat with a wave of her hand.

Scowling at his grinning sister, Dean made his way to the empty seat next to her.

"Since we are now all current seated, I want to take this moment to tell you that most lawyers would spend an hour of their time trying to get their client talking. But, sugar, you need to know, I ain't most lawyers. So how bout you do us all a favour, and don't try to think up any excuses to worm you're way out of this. We've got a lot of work to do in the next two weeks. So when I ask you a question just go ahead and answer it. Don't pull any of that mumbling embarrassed crap on me. Understood?"

The middle aged woman was glaring at him. Dean wasn't sure if the woman was allowed to do that, but he figured that it would be in everyone's best interest if he didn't cross her.

"Yes, mam," he stated firmly.

"Okay, so first question. Have you in any way mistreated your wife?"

"No." Dean scoffed indignantly.

"Have you ever cheated on your wife?"

Well, the woman certainly didn't waste any time in getting to the juicy parts of things didn't she?

"Yes." The young man stated resolutely.

"Excuse me?" Caroline cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, I cheated on her, once. Well, twice technically, but it was the same girl."

"And who was this girl?"

"Rory Gilmore."

"And she is..."

"My ex-girlfriend. We dated for three years, and broke up three months before I started things up with Lindsay."

"So, this was just some random rekindling of an old flame?"

"What? No! We were friends. I loved her, I still do actually, but she liked somebody else. So I broke up with her. Afterwards I realised that not seeing her at all was just too hard, so I asked her if we could be friends. I needed an excuse to be around her. We stayed that way up until things with Lindsay started going really sour. It wasn't intentional, and it just sort of happened, and it didn't last all that long. Rory went off to Europe with her grandmother; she sent me a letter through her mom. She couldn't do it, she couldn't live with the fact that we were cheating. I haven't seen, spoken or written to her since, mainly because I have the feeling that she's been avoiding me."

"I see." The lawyer said as she scribbled away on a yellow notepad "And this happened when exactly?"

"May 2"

The middle aged woman raised an eyebrow. "That's awfully precise."

"It was the night of the test run. Her mom opened an Inn called the dragon fly, I worked with the construction crew. Rory was there, they were having a test run before it opened."

"I see. Well then, do you suspect you're wife knows of your affair?"

"She might."

"What do you mean?"

"The letter Rory sent me from Europe is gone. I can't find it anywhere. I think that Lindsay must have found it. Either that, or it accidentally got left behind at the apartment."

"Uh...No it didn't," Clara muttered, gaze aimed distinctly at the floor.

"What?" Dean asked rather confused.

"I kind of took it from the Rory box."

"What? What do you mean you took it! That was private Clara, how could you just do that?" Dean glared at her.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? You wouldn't tell me anything." She huffed indignantly.

"Unbelievable."

"As interesting as this all maybe we should really get back on track here people. Now, if I understand everything correctly, Clara you have the letter."

"Yes."

"Good. Now, Dean do you think that Rory will say anything about your brief encounter?"

"No, she's not that kind of girl."

"Perfect, we may proceed."

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Residence) 6:43 p.m.**

Something was up, that much, Rory was certain of. Her mother had insisted that she be home by noon that day, yesterday, which was possible due to the fact that her only Friday class ended at ten. The reason behind Lorelai's request was apparently because the woman wanted to do some mother/daughter bonding, not that they needed it. Rory, however, was not going to complain about this surprise shopping spree. Truth was, this shopping spree was long overdue. Her current wardrobe hadn't been cutting it for awhile now, and her baggie clothes had become uncomfortable tight, if not impossible to put on. It was time to face the facts, Rory Gilmore needed to go buy herself some maternity clothes. She'd been surviving on very loose sweat pants for the past five weeks because nothing else would fit.

It was time. She couldn't and she wouldn't hide it any longer, she was twenty five weeks pregnant, and it was high time that everybody else found out. The worst of it was done with, her mother knew, her grandparents knew and her father knew. And her mother had taken care of Luke, Sookie and Jackson for her, which according to her mother had gone surprisingly well. Well setting aside that Luke had cursed profusely and threatened to neutered any unsuspecting male ages sixteen and up that came near Rory. Whereas Sookie and Jackson simply remained mouth open staring at Lorelai, after a few minutes her mother had decided to leave them to their processing. Now the only people who didn't know was the rest of the town...and Dean, although the young Gilmore didn't plan on telling him that she was carrying his buns in her oven any time soon.

Lorelai had seemed rather surprised when Rory had said she wanted to go buy maternity clothes, yet had not objected in the least. As always, their shopping spree lasted quite a few hours, and they'd ended up having to eat an entire meal due to Rory's cravings around three. Finally after five o'clock, and dozens of shops, they made their way back to the jeep arms full with their finds. It had been a great trip to the shopping mall, most of it was spent laughing and bantering as they always did.

The youngest Gilmore was particularly pleased with herself at the moment. In the matter of five hours alone she'd managed to find four dresses, five pairs of pants, nine shirts, four bras and a pack of undies. All in all, the day had been productive enough. Rory would probably have to buy more clothes still, yet she believed she had it covered for a week or so. To her surprise, maternity shopping wasn't as bad as she'd initially thought, most of the clothes looked like a modified version of what she usually bought for herself.

Before either Gilmore Girls knew it they were home and their buys were safely tucked away. Glancing at the clock, Lorelai went to find Rory in her room. "Hey kiddo."

"Hey, mom what's up?" The birthday girl looked at her mother quizzically.

"I have to go check on something at the dragon fly. I was sort of hoping you'd tag along for the ride."

"Sure, just let me get changed into some of my new clothes."

The eldest Gilmore looked hesitant at the idea. "Are you sure you want to do that Rory? Because if you do this, there isn't any going back, someone will see you and by the end of the night everyone will know that you're pregnant."

"Yeah I know, but I also know that I can't hide this forever. Truth is I don't want to hide it anymore. So, pants or dress?"

"Dress, definitely. I'd wear the dark red baby doll dress with your black knee high boots."

"Done."

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 6:51 p.m.**

He didn't know what to do. A part of him really wanted to follow through on the idea bouncing around his head. However, the other part told him his presence might not be as welcomed as he would like. Dean had been debating his plan of action for over two hours now, ever since he'd gotten off his shift with the construction crew. It was stupid really, he should just forget about it. After all he hadn't technically been invited. Although this was one of those things that didn't need a formal invitation, he'd heard Miss Patty say the entire town was invited. Then again, maybe that open invitation didn't apply to pinning ex-boyfriends. Dean wasn't sure if Rory would like the idea of him showing up unannounced to her birthday party, even if her actual birthday doesn't take place until next week. Sighing, he laid on his bed and stared at his ceiling despondently. Things didn't used to be this hard, he thought bemusedly, but then again he and Rory had still been steadily dating at that time.

The twenty year old man had no clue what to do. He really wanted to see Rory, then again he knew that it probably wasn't the best idea. Yet, if he didn't go, how was she going to get his present? He didn't want her to think that he'd forgotten about her. Not that Dean believed he ever could do such a thing. A knock on his door pulled him out of his train of thought. Before the young man could even decide what to tell the person encroaching on his privacy, his bedroom door flung open to reveal his sister. Clara was quite obviously intending on going somewhere tonight, her hair was curled and she wore her favourite jeans with one of her numerous pink t-shirts. The older brother raised an eyebrow as he noticed that Clara's T-shirt had an overly innocent looking bunny wearing a halo with a catch phrase beneath it that read '_Hi, where's your off button?'_.

"What do you want?" He asked her rather annoyed.

Looking slightly offended by her brother's clipped tone, Clara crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest before firing back. "I wanted to know if you were coming."

"Coming where?" That one earned him an exaggerated eye-roll.

"Rory's surprise birthday party, duh." Sarcasm dripped from every syllable she uttered.

"Oh." Dean acknowledged dejectedly.

"Yeah, oh... You coming?"

"You know...I don't think it would be such a good idea Clara. Things are really complicated, and I don't think Rory would appreciate me dropping by."

"Humph, typical as always. Why is it that all XY chromosome people are morons?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you and Rory can't exactly make up if you keep avoiding her like the plague."

"You wouldn't understand, you're just too young."

"And you're just too stupid to do anything other than stand around catching flies with your mouth."

Dean glared at his pest of a little sister. "I'm not going. That's it."

"Fine, be a jerk! It's no wonder Rory doesn't want to talk to you, if that's how you always deal with things."

The young man just stared at his sister with an unreadable expression marring his face. Huffing as she realised that her brother had lost himself to his own thoughts, Clara walked away from him. After all, if he was going to ignore her presence, she'd rather go ahead and finish her make –up, than stand there like an idiot.

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 7:05 p.m.**

"Are they here yet?" Richard Gilmore asked the young man before him.

"No, but they should be on their way. You're just in time actually, everything is ready and according to Sookie, all of Rory's friends are here." Christopher Hayden answered as he escorted the Gilmores. Once Inside Richard aided his wife in removing her coat, as Emily glanced around at the people gathered.

The decorations certainly weren't elegant. They consisted mostly of banners and steamers in various shades and hues. Although the catering looked to be exquisite setting aside the courses Emily was certain that Lorelai had requested. Honestly, who in their proper set of mind would serve cheese sticks to such an event other than her very own daughter.

Sighing, the red headed woman looked at husband exasperated with their daughter's unlady like habits. A sound in the driveway attracted the attention of most of the people attending the party. Whispers were heard from the crowd until Luke told them quite bluntly.

"Shut up! That's them, everybody back away from the door."

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:09 p.m.**

Sighing, Dean remained torn between the two options that lay before him. And no matter how much he wanted it, he knew he couldn't go and see her. Dejectedly he took out from his desk drawer the present he had bought Rory. It was wrapped and signed with his name, all that was left to do would be to have it delivered.

Taking a deep breath he made his way to his sister's room and knocked on her door lightly. Impatiently he waited for her to answer, which she did eventually, after a two minute delay.

"What?" The fifteen year old barked at him obviously displeased with his very presence at the moment.

"Since you're going, could you add this to the pile of birthday presents?" He asked holding up the present pleadingly.

Clara seemed to debate the very question for a few moments. From what he could tell, she was caught between accepting his request and slamming the door in his face. Letting out a frustrated snark his sister literally snatched the small gift from his hand before looking at him with deadly intent.

"Coward." She muttered disapprovingly.

Dean couldn't find it himself to rebuke as the door was promptly slammed in his face.

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn Driveway) 7:13 p.m.**

"Mom what exactly is that you have to do? I mean it's practically nighttimes, I doubt anybody would be checking in at this time."

Rory and her mother had arrived at the Inn and were now standing in front of the door, ready to enter. Her mother had been unusually silent during the ride up. The only time Lorelai spoke was when she repeatedly asked her if she was certain she wanted everybody to know about her pregnancy today. After assuring her each time, the older Gilmore would say nothing else.

"Oh, you know a little of this, a little of that. Nothing much really." The woman answered as she opened the door and dragged Rory inside with her. Before the birthday girl could say anything else, she was startled by the loud sound of a few dozens of people yelling out 'Surprise'. The youngest Gilmore could only stare at the crowd assembled before her as she was attacked by confetti.

Turning towards her mother incredulously Rory raises a questioning eyebrow.

"What? I figured you could use the pick me up. Besides surprise birthday parties aren't so surprising when they take place on one' s actual birthday."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 5th 2013.


	25. Cowardly Presents

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Peach street) 7:15 p.m.**

Coward, coward, Coward! Ugh, why are guys such morons? It's enough to give you one hell of headache. Ironically, Clara had always thought her older brother was smart and brave, despite the numerous times she would claim otherwise. Enough to say, Dean lost a few points in her book tonight. The worst part was that she was sure that if he'd just man up and talk to Rory things would be better. Instead the idiot decides that now is the perfect time to turn tail and run. Don't even ask her to explain her brother's behaviour; she wouldn't know what to tell you.

And now here she was, walking along Peach Street on her way to Rory's birthday party with two presents tucked underneath her arms. Coward!

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon fly Inn) 7:17 p.m.**

After the confetti had cleared, Rory was certain that the murmurs would begin. Surprisingly, they didn't. The party goers looked slightly shocked as they took in the sight of her clearly pregnant stomach, but the whispering never came. Following a brief moment of astonished silence, to the birthday girl's utter awe, the people assembled acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. The first thirty minutes of the entire party consisted to of Rory being bombarded by 'happy birthdays', 'congratulations' and 'what are you having?'. She hadn't expected this type of reaction, although it did please her. Miss Patty and the other town gossips seemed rather intrigued by her condition, and went about extracting every little bit of information that they could. Oddly enough, setting aside Babette, no one asked about the twin's father. The young journalist could only deduce that, after she had stated that the father would not be present in her children's life, Miss Patty had warned off the rest of the crowd from asking any questions on that particular subject. She was thankful to her childhood dance teacher for that.

Eventually, the questions became less frequent as the party started to go full swing. She was grabbing some cheese sticks when two pairs of arms came and wrapped themselves around her from behind. Startled, Rory turned around to see her best friend smiling at her. Lane, cast a glance at their surroundings before pulling her away from the crowd.

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon fly Inn) 8:06 p.m.**

Maybe it was a good thing that Dean had stayed home Clara mused silently to herself. She'd arrived at the Inn around seven thirty, and had immediately dropped the two presents off at the designated table. The teenager had quickly realised that something monumental had happened, everybody in attendance seemed to be discussing animally about some particular subject. Walking around Clara caught a few tidbits here and there, but they just left her even more confused. From what she could gather, somebody was pregnant, with twins nonetheless. Shrugging aside the topic, the youngest Forester set about seeking out Rory. They hadn't talked in awhile and Clara was eager to tell the birthday girl all about the recent happenings in her teenage life. Rory always gave such good advice. It wasn't until she had spotted Rory that Clara truly understood why the party was abuzz about pregnancies and twins. There, in front of her very own eyes stood Rory Gilmore pregnant! Gaping, the young girl simply stared eyes wide for a few moments, before somebody accidentally bumped into her. Pulled out of her shocked trance Clara quickly hid behind a potted tree. This earned her quite a few odd looks, yet thankfully, no one mentioned anything.

Clara knew very well that she was acting rather stupidly, but she seemed unable to keep herself from being a fool. Gathering her bearings behind the potted tree the youngest Forester mulled over the situation. Biting her fingernails, she popped her head out of her hiding place to get a better look at her ideal sister in law. Rory looked to be pretty far along in her pregnancy, but then again, the girl was carrying twins. Sighing, she brought her head back behind the tree. Idly, she was presently happy that Dean had been such a coward. Clara didn't know how he would have reacted to this. Taking another quick peak at the Gilmore girl, the Forester girl decided that she should probably get back out into the crowd. She couldn't very well hide behind a tree the entire evening. Acting as normally as she could, the teenager stepped out of her hiding placed and tried to blend in with the crowd. As she moved around in the crowd, the girl kept glancing back at Rory as she subtly tried to listen in on a few conversations, hoping to learn more. After several minutes of eavesdropping, Clara felt confident that she knew all the basics. One boy, one girl, twenty-five weeks along, labour will be induced if the twins aren't born in eleven weeks, father is unknown. Casting another glance in Rory's direction, the teenager see's the girl being carted off by Lane. Hesitant, she follows them doing her best to remain undetected.

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Lister Residence) 8:16 p.m.**

"Mom, you've been going on about this for the past three days. Will you give it a rest?"

Shannon Lister had been on a rampage ever since she'd come back from the flower shop on Tuesday. The woman kept pacing around the house as she listed off all of the horrible things she would adore inflicting upon Bella Forester. It was plain as day to Lindsay that her mother was positively seething with rage at the bitch's insolence. The blonde teen was in agreement with her mother's belief that the Foresters needed to be taught a lesson in respecting their betters. Lindsay could hardly wait for the court date. She'd make them suffer, and take Dean for all he had; the boy would pay for being such a jerk. Of course the very thought that she might lose the case never entered the blonde's mind, as always she was under the delusion that she could do no wrong. After all, in Lindsay's humble opinion, she and her family were above everyone else. Why would a judge take Dean's side if that were so?

"No, sweetie, mommy can't give it a rest because that foul woman should be punished for her audacity. Why, speaking to me in such a bold manner! It's no wonder that son of hers is so disrespectful, if that's what he had as a mother. Urgh, when I get my hands on that woman! She'll rue the day she crossed me, after all I've done to help that scum become more refined. Honestly, this is how she repays me? Spreading lies about my little girl, urgh...awful woman."

"What?" Michel Lister suddenly seemed rather interested in his wife's antics. Sitting up straighter in his chair, he set aside the daily paper. "What lies has this woman been spreading about our daughter?"

Rolling her eyes at her husband's abrupt interest in the matter, Shannon answered him, her voice positively dripping with venom. "That vile wench practically announced in the middle of the town square that _our_ daughter was a two timing whore. Not only that but the bitch actually described a scene in which Dean had found Lindsay in bed with two men, she could have painted a picture with all the exaggeration she was laying on. Apparently, the woman is under the delusion that our little girl has been cheating on Dean since they first began dating. Worst yet, the bitch even went as far as saying that her son hadn't been the one to impregnate Lindsay! Honestly the gall of that woman."

Michel and Shannon shook their heads in dismay and anger over the entire situation. Lindsay simply stood still, staring intently at the dinning table.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 6th 2013.


	26. Presents for all

**********************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon fly Inn) 8:29 p.m.**

Clara didn't know if she should be doing this, maybe that was why she stood a few feet away from the door. The youngest Forester had followed Rory and Lane up to the second floor and all the way to room number thirteen undetected. By a stroke of luck, the door didn't close all the way, and if she were simply to go closer Clara was certain that she would be able to hear the conversation going on inside. The teenager knew very well that she had no excuse for eavesdropping on Rory Gilmore, other than the fact that she was hoping the girl would someday become her step sister. Ah, well that would simply have to be reason enough. Silently the girl crept closer to the door.

"...and then he tells me it takes him a while to process things." Clara hears Lane say.

"Uh."

"Yeah, kind of what I thought. Anyways, enough about me, I can't believe you decided to out yourself on you're own birthday party."

"Yeah, well it wasn't really intentional. But, I'm glad it's done, this way at least I don't have to dread the confrontation anymore."

"Speaking of confrontations, have you talked to Dean yet?"

"Lane." Rory whined.

"Look, I know with everything going on that you don't want to bother him. But I still think he should know."

"Why? It'll only make a mess out of things and I don't want that. Besides, Dean and Lindsay are happily married and about to become parents, or haven't you heard."

"See, I'm not so sure about that."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well, there are a lot of rumours going around about those two right now. However, one of them has been confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt."

"What is it?"

"Dean is trying to divorce Lindsay. Not only that, but both the Foresters and the Lister's are fighting back and forth. I didn't see any of it myself, but I heard that it was pretty grizzly."

"Really?"

"I swear its true, which is why you should maybe think about telling him that you're pregnant with his twins."

"I don't know Lane, I just don't think its a good idea. Besides maybe they'll..."

Eyes wide and mouth flapping open Clara slowly and quietly backed away from the door. Once she was far enough, she turned and ran.

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 10:43 p.m.**

Rory hadn't meant to cause a scene, especially not with her grandparents still present. Sadly, everything had been going well up until that particular point. It was just past ten, and the last of the party goers had left the Dragon fly. Her Dad and Luke were packing the presents away in the jeep when it caught her eye. The present was covered in deep blue wrapping paper with an intricate silver pattern and tied with a soft powder blue bow. Relatively speaking it was small in size and carried a distinct shape that anyone could recognise. But, what really caught her eye was the name that was signed on the small white card attached to the bow. Somewhat disbelievingly Rory snatched the present from the pile, which resulted in her receiving quite a few strange looks from her family.

"Hun, what is it?" Lorelai received no reply as her daughter continued to stare at the gift in her hands dumbfounded. Suddenly Jolting into action Rory quickly tore away the paper and bow. What it revealed, however, made her eyes prickle with tears. The present was a CD, and not just any one at that.

It was the soundtrack to the old version of _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_.

Everyone just stared at her quizzically. No one knew the meaning of this particular CD, especially not the meaning behind the song _Candy Man_. Rory hadn't even told her mother about that part. Dropping the CD back on top of the present pile, the birthday girl simply turned tail and ran, leaving only a white gift card at her mother's feet.

_Happy Birthday Rory_

_from Dean _

* * *

**Saturday October 2 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 11:02 p.m.**

Staring at the piece of paper on the floor before her, Lorelai wondered how things could possibly get any worse then they already were. Silently, the woman bent down and picked the card up, her fingertips ghosting over the name. The only thing that Lorelai could think of at the moment was that she should have known better. Dean never was all that good at keeping his distance from Rory, even when it was in his best interest. The Gilmore girl couldn't help but think that she should have seen this one coming. Hopefully, her daughter wouldn't spend the night sleepless as she agonized over her current situation.

"Lorelai." Came the condescending tone of Emily Gilmore. Looking up at her mother's angry scowl, Lorelai soon realised her mistake. She had spoken too soon, things _were_ about to get a whole lot worse.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 6th 2013.


	27. Things Are Getting Weird

**********************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Thursday October 7 2004, Stars Hollow (Magazine Stand) 7:03 a.m.**

Bella didn't know how she should feel given the circumstances. The news Clara had shared came as quite a shock to the older woman. She never thought she'd become a grandmother when she was only thirty-nine years old. Then again, once upon a time she also thought that she would never fall in love; Jacob Forester did a swell job of proving her wrong. Still, becoming a grandmother was an entirely different conundrum. For one thing, her twenty year old son was about to become a parent himself, even if he was unaware of the fact. Also, the Lindsay debacle certainly didn't make things easier. And let's not forget the fact that her future grandchildren were conceived in a situation that would have been deplorable, if it were not for the fact that her son's wife was nothing more than a spoiled and conniving little whore. Nonetheless, the prospect of grandchildren appealed to her greatly. Bella could already see the twins taking center stage in her nearby future. That is, if Rory would allow them anywhere near the children... Something that was debatable given the current state of things.

In the mean time, however, it would be best if Dean did not find out about Rory's pregnancy. It could only lead to trouble. Besides, the young Gilmore girl had chosen to keep her son in the dark for some reason or another, and Bella was not about to disrespect the girl's wishes. It had taken her a few days to come to this particular conclusion, yet there it was. Bella wasn't delirious, she knew that her son would eventually discover the truth; there was no denying that much. However, with a little help, she just might be able to forestall the inevitable. It took her fifteen minutes to arrive at her destination, and to her utter delight, Bella had been right in assuming that Miss Patty would be near the magazine stand at this time of day. Not wanting the situation to seem premeditated, the dark haired woman perused her surroundings as she slowly made her way to the stand. Just as she had suspected, Miss Patty's gaze zeroed in on her the second she reached the stand in question. Bella Forester knew that the red headed dance teacher was as addicted to hearing gossip as she was to spreading it. Knowing full well that many of her fellow citizens were curious as to what led the Forester's and Lister's to feud, it was only logical to assume that the town gossip would be eager to get all the dirty little details. Appearing oblivious to the scrutiny, Bella simply picked up a fashion magazine and started to flip through the pages. The dark haired woman didn't have to wait long before Miss Patty made her move.

"Oh, those dresses are just darling, are you planning on getting something like that for Clara? She'd look just adorable in one." The red head said as she came up behind her.

"Yes she would, she'd look good in anything. Then again, I'm her mother. Some people would say my opinion was bias."

"Hush, now that's not true. Clara's a pretty girl; you'd have to be either blind or a fool to say otherwise. By the way, how is the poor dear doing? I saw what happened with Michel Lister a several weeks back, is she alright?"

"I suppose she's as well as could be expected. The bruises are gone and the scabs on her scalp have healed. Other than that she doesn't seem to be affected by the ordeal all that much. It worries me somewhat. She's mostly just very eager for the divorce."

A sharp red eyebrow rose, as Patty's face lit up with interest "Divorce? Yes, I've heard about that, what happened exactly? Last I checked Dean and Lindsay seemed to be very happy together."

Bella snorted. "No, not really, she'd get angry at him for the simplest of things. Dean spent most of his nights at home, especially the last few months. The worst part is, now I'm certain that she simply wanted to get rid of him for the night."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Lindsay's been cheating on Dean."

Miss Patty's eyes widened in disbelief, she seemed to be unable to say anything for a few seconds before she recovered from the shock. "No, you don't say."

"Yes."

"Why? Why would she do that? She seemed perfectly content with your son."

"That's because she always had something on the side."

"What?"

"Lindsay was never faithful to Dean. She'd been cheating on him since they began dating. The dense blonde threw a fit and ended up admitted to it. Of course, when she regained her senses, Lindsay tried to regain the upper hand, but it was too late. Her dirty little secret was out in the open."

"How did he find out about all of this?"

"Dean was working a late shift. His boss sent him home two hours early because my son was beyond tired. Dean walked in on Lindsay having sex with two men in their bed. That's when she slipped up about her affairs."

"Really?" Miss Patty exclaimed, aghast.

"Yes, and now that tramp is trying to make everyone believe that Dean is the one at fault for her current problems. Not only that, but she's attempting to pass off her pregnancy as a result of her marriage to my son. In all honesty, Dean probably had nothing to do with the conception of Lindsay's child."

"My, my, my, that's rather upsetting."

"Mmm," Bella agreed.

Miss Patty looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well... She won't be the only pregnant girl in town."

"Are you talking about Rory Gilmore?"

"Yes."

"About that, would you mind doing me a favour?"

* * *

**Monday October 11 2004, Stars Hollow (Plum Street) 4:03 p.m.**

It was time; he couldn't just keep on living at his parent's house. Dean doubted that he would want to go back to the apartment he had shared with Lindsay when this was all over; he needed to find a new place. Plus, he was starting to get annoyed with Clara, these days she'd just walk into his room without even knocking. It became particularly frustrating whenever he would be looking through the Rory box. Clara would just grin and start eagerly looking through the contents of the box despite his protests. So there he was, looking for a new place to live in. The six foot three young man sighed as he exited once again, another apartment. Dean didn't know what was wrong with him. He'd seen ten apartments already, all of them very beautiful and spacious. Yet, whenever he'd see them, there was always something wrong. A voice, _Rory's_ voice, would echo in his mind and mock the rosebuds or the peach tiling, and he'd find himself telling the estate woman that he'd think about it.

Slightly aggravated at his own stupidity, Dean decided to go and get something to eat at Luke's. He'd been avoiding the place somewhat ever since he'd gotten drunk the night before his wedding. But, he was dying to eat a cheeseburger, and Weston's just didn't cut it anymore. The Forester boy had been expecting some kind of reception when he walked in. After all, with all the rumours going around about his marriage, he'd gotten used to the sudden influx of conversation when he entered a room. Things at Luke's, however, were more than just a little weird. Everyone just stopped. They continued eating and all, but they stopped talking. Silence reigned and it was creeping him out. At first Dean had thought that everybody would just start talking again after a minute or two, but no, that was just too much to ask for. The entire thirty minutes it took him to order, wait on and eat his burger and fries were spent in total silence. However, what really worried him was the fact that Luke kept alternating between glaring at his presence and refusing to meet his gaze.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 6th 2013.


	28. Court Date

**********************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Sunday October 17 2004, Hartford Courthouse (Room 3) 11:56 a.m.**

"We are here today to settle the divorce terms for one Mr. Dean Forester and one Ms. Lindsay Lister. Mr. Forester wants a divorce from his wife, yet the previously mentioned party is not happy with the terms Mr. Forester has set. Have I gotten anything wrong so far?"

Judge Mathew Murray stared down both sides with a withering glare. The man was quite easily in his seventies, but for some unknown reason, he had yet to retire. He wore a slight scowl upon his wrinkled face as he once more looked over the documentation in front of his person. Honestly, Mathew knew not why he still bothered with these cases; it was simply a waste of his time. Unfortunately, his boss believed that it would be best if Mathew reacquainted himself with the simpler side of things. So there he sat scowling down at two married teenagers and their respective families. The only interesting thing about this particular case was that, apparently the wife was pregnant. He might as well get on with it, the sooner he got this one over with, the sooner he could go back to watching _House_ on TVO. Now that was a guy he could relate to, "Miss Lister, if you would be so kind as to state your case."

"Yes, your honour." The petite blonde nodded her head in aquiscion, while she sent an arrogant glare in her husband's direction. Clearly, he would have to keep an eye on this one. After all, there's a distinct difference between being confident and being egoistic. Already dubious of the girl, Mathew nodded his head for her to continue.

"My husband and I have been married for little over a year by now. In that time I have sacrificed numerous things for his happiness and wellbeing. Lately, things have been going downhill for us, and instead of staying and discussing things out, he would run off to god knows where. Several weeks back I discovered that I was pregnant and I told Dean. We'd been fighting at that time, and he had once more run off, so I went to see him at work and told him there. Not even a week later I receive papers petitioning me for divorce. Papers, that if I were stupid enough to sign, would leave me pregnant, broke and homeless. All of this, because Dean refuses to take responsibility for his actions."

Lindsay dabbed at her eyes daintily with her white monogrammed handkerchief. Mathew stared at the girl unimpressed with her performance. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the young man roll his eyes at his wife's display of vulnerability.

"And you Mr. Forester, what is your side of this story? Why do you want this divorce?"

The boy was obviously nervous, which in Mathew's experience was a good thing. After viewing the blonde's performance he was certain that he would have to deal with two hoity-toity pig heads. It seems however, that at the very least, one of them wasn't attempting to put on a show for his viewing pleasure.

"I want this divorce because I don't love Lindsay, I never loved Lindsay. And because I discovered that for as long as we had been together, she has been unfaithful to me. She admitted so much to me herself after I found her having sex with two men in our bed, which is why I refuse to give her any compensations. Lindsay never worked or helped out. She just took whatever I gave her and would throw a fit when she didn't get everything she wanted. The reason I won't give her child support is because I greatly doubt that the baby she's carrying is mine."

The Lister's were all glaring at Dean hatefully. Michel's face had become red with rage, and his fists were tightly clenched. "You insolent little mongrel! How dare you-"

"Mister Lister! Restrain yourself, your daughter has spoken her peace without interruptions. The boy deserves the same respect." He glared at Michel, and returned his attention on the task at hand.

The old man's gaze shifted to the blonde woman seated at his left. "As for you Miss Lister, any particular reason you omitted this very important piece of information."

"I didn't omit it. My husband's delusions just aren't pertinent to the situation at hand."

Judge Murray raised an incredulous eyebrow as the Foresters looked at her in disdain. Mathew sighed in annoyance at the blonde youth before him.

"Miss Lister I do not know if you are aware of the fact that I am the judge here. I decide what is pertinent and what is not. And I say that this bit of information is pertinent to this case. Now, I believe I have already heard enough of this case; I will review the evidence that has been given to me and see if it is congruent with what has been said today. Miss Lister will take a paternity test which will be set up by the court in order to avoid any confusion in this case. If the child is indeed Mr. Forester's we shall discuss an appropriate sum for child support. Compensations will be granted if I deem the situation appropriate. Otherwise, all property will be awarded to their respective owners, good day."

Indignant Michel Lister rose from his seat to defend this unjust ruling. "You cannot be serious, this man has neglected my daughter and you're going to let him insinuate such awful things about my little girl."

"And what exactly do you believe I am insinuating Mr. Lister?"

"That my daughter is a tramp! You are forcing her to take a paternity test when there is absolutely no need for it! The very idea is insulting. I demand that you rid yourself of such a foolish notion and proceed with our plea. You may begin by granting Lindsay the child support she is due. After which we can discuss an appropriate sum for monetary compensation. If you ask me, my little girl was too lenient towards these filthy ingrates." Mr. Lister smiled at Judge Murray condescendingly. He then gestured for the Judge to continue in a manner one would use to correct a petulant child "You may proceed now Judge Murray. I trust you have learned the error of your ways."

Judge Matthew Murray looked at the Listers, eyebrow cocked and face tightly clenched. The trio of want to be blue bloods, sat upon their chairs in a princely manner smirking in triumph. His glance drifted towards the Foresters, who sat looking appalled with the Listers behaviour.

The Judge cleared his throat "Bailiff." He called out.

Mr. Lister's face lit up with glee "Ah, good idea Judge Murray. A few days in detainment ought to teach these ruffians a thing or two about proper behaviour. Between us, I'm of the persuasion that they know not how to respect their betters."

"You wanted me Judge Murray?" Bailiff Scott comes to stand at the Matthew's side, hands resting upon his belt.

The old man nods his head in affirmation "Yes, would you be so kind as to arrest Mr. Lister here, and file him in contempt."

Chaos broke out among the Listers. Shouts of indignation and unjust treatment rang out in the room. Matthew ignored them, he was much too overdo for his nap as it was. He exited the room without further obstacles.

* * *

**Tuesday October 19 2004, Hartford Courthouse (Administrative Desk) 1:13 pm**

"Hello dear, how may I help you today?" The secretary asked sweetly from her post at the main desk. The woman appeared to be in her late sixties. She had a gentle smile, and her frizzy grey hair was knotted into a bun at the back of her head. The woman peered at Clara from behind butterfly glasses.

"Hi" Clara Forester replied meekly, uncommonly shy. "I...umm... I have evidence pertaining to the Forester/Lister divorce case. I was hoping someone could give it to Judge Matthew Murray."

The teenager was fidgeting nervously; she couldn't afford to stay here too long. Clara had skipped school in order to drop off her package directly. If her mother discovered she'd been to Hartford alone and without telling anybody first, there would be hell to pay. The girl really wanted to avoid being grounded, especially since she was only doing this to help her brother.

"Well of course dear. You just let me find the case file and we'll deliver it directly to Judge Murray. He's still in at this hour, so we'll be able to give it to him directly.

* * *

**Tuesday October 23 2004, Stars Hollow (Luke's Diner) 9:21 a.m.**

"Look, sweetie, I know you're bummed out about this whole debacle with your grandparents, but it's not as bad as you make it out to be."

Lorelai tried to placate her only child as they entered the diner. The aftermath of Rory's surprise birthday party had been disastrous in more ways than one. The youngest Gilmore had spent the rest of the week-end confined in her room, crying. Meanwhile, Emily and Richard had discovered the identity of the man who fathered Rory's children. To say that they were unhappy with the revelation would be an understatement. There was screaming, scolding and screeching, numerous times, and not always in that particular order. Yet, as always, Lorelai found herself on the receiving end of her parent's hissy fits.

Rory looked at her mother incredulously as they sat down at a table "They haven't talked to either of us since that night!"

"Yes…well." Lorelai picked up a menu and gave her daughter an overly enthusiastic smile "I happen to think that's a good thing. Hey, I know! Do what I do, think of it as well deserved break from the judgemental galore that is my mother."

"Mom." The teenager whined, as she dropped her head down onto the table. Momentarily, the girl wondered if banging her forehead against the wooden surface would be overly dramatic.

The elder Gilmore placed her menu down "Rory, seriously, your grandparents will get over it."

Rory turned her head in Lorelai's direction, yet kept it rested upon the table's scratchy surface. She raised a dubious eyebrow at her mother, "they went to France," Rory said, her tone laced with incredulity at her mother's antics. Wasn't Lorelai usually the cynical one? Didn't she always view any association with her parents in an unenthusiastic manner? What the hell was going on?

"They go to France every year."

Her head shot up, and she glared at her mother. "Yeah," she stated sarcastically, "in the summer time."

Rory's gaze drifted to the salt and pepper shakers, a morose expression overtook her features, "they're so disappointed in me that they decided going off to another continent would be better than having to see me."

Lorelai patted her hand, and gave her a hesitant smile, "at least they send us postcards." The younger Gilmore snorted derisively "And, yes, they aren't exactly sentimental. But I'm sure once grandma's done complaining about the weather, and her misplaced Tiffany Jewellery that she'll come around. Besides, this might be a good thing. I mean, when was the last time that your grandparents willingly spent any time together? And to top it off, their vacationing in France, the city of love. Something good is bound to happen. With any luck, they'll finally get back together and we won't have to worry about separate Friday night diners. Take heart my dear, take heart."

* * *

**Friday October 29 2004, Stars Hollow (Apple Street) 5:07 p.m.**

He shouldn't have passed by her house, Dean knew that much. Despite this, he was unable to help himself. He hadn't seen Rory in months, and he was desperate for just one glimpse of her. His desires won over his fatigue. Though passing by the Gilmore house would add ten minutes to his commute home, he did so anyway.

As he drove by, Dean got his wish. Rory was outside, gathering her things from her car. Elation filled his being as his eyes landed upon her coffee colored hair. From his vantage point he could only see the back her head. The rest of her was obscured by her Saturn.

His good mood, however, plummeted to the ground in moments. There, unloading the trunk of her car, was some guy he didn't recognize.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 7th 2013.


	29. A Question of Paternity

**********************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Tuesday November 9 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 5:45 p.m.**

Bella Forester was worried. Her son had spent the last several days moping about. He hadn't been the same since Halloween, and she was quite certain she knew the cause of this occurrence. A rumor had been running around that Rory Gilmore had a new boyfriend. Unfortunately, it would seem that her eldest caught wind of this little piece of gossip. Hence, the reason why her son currently had the attention span of a wasp. The only good thing about the entire ordeal is that Dean is unaware that this … Marty fellow is also rumored to be the father of Rory's unborn children. No matter, everything would be fine as long as Dean doesn't discover that Rory is pregnant, or at least, not until the girl gathers the courage to come tell him herself. As much as Bella agonized over withholding such information from her child, she knew it was not her place to say anything on the matter. The entire family was currently enjoying a homemade meal together. Bella had spent the better part of the afternoon preparing Dean's favorite dish: meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn and bread. She had hoped that this would raise his spirits somewhat, yet it would seem her efforts were for naught. The entire family was silent, and she'd had just about enough of the awkward and cautious manner in which they were behaving. The mother took a deep breath, and attempted to break the ice.

"The lawyer called today." Bella addressed Dean hesitantly, uncertain to his reaction.

The boy blinked momentarily, yet seemed decidedly uninterested. Instead, he focused his attention upon pushing his food around his plate. Clara and Jacob on the other hand, were all but buzzing with excitement "What did she want?"

"The test results are in. They want to see us at the court house this tomorrow at two o'clock sharp."

Dean was silent for a moment as he looked at his family. He gave them a half hearted smile "Good. At least that will be over with."

Once more, silence reigned.

Not to be deterred, Bella decide to share another vital piece of news she had heard today. The entire town was buzzing about it "I would also like to inform all of you that the Dragon Fly Inn will be hosting a Thanksgiving lunch for the town."

Dean's head shot up "What?"

"I don't know all of the details. Simply that the Dragon Fly is going to be having a lunch party for thanksgiving, and that the entire town was invited. I've decided that it would be a good idea for us to attend."

"Huh?" the boy asked, clearly befuddled.

* * *

**Wednesday November 10 2004, Hartford Courthouse (Room 3) 2:00 p.m. **

It had to be a sign, some kind of indication that things would all work out in the end. Dean had never been too fond of the snow as a child. Growing up in the city of Chicago, snow was unanimous with brown sludge. He had never seen it as anything more until he moved to Stars Hollow, until he met Rory Gilmore. The Gilmore girls held the strong belief that snow marked the arrival of new beginnings. The first snow, in their opinion, was magical. Snow had the ability to produce good fortune, simply by being present. Thinking back on it now, Dean couldn't help but smile. The first snow fall of the season had arrived earlier that day. As he faced the judge, he couldn't help but believe that fate was on his side. But then again, the Listers seemed pretty sure of themselves, even taking into account that Michel was glaring hatefully at Judge Matthews. It appeared that Mr. Lister was still somewhat incensed at his abrupt arrest. Judge Matthews ignored Michel's furious gaze. He waited until both the Listers and the Foresters were comfortably settled. He cleared his throat as his gaze lingered upon his case notes "As all of you may know, we are gathered here today to determine both the paternity of Ms. Lister's child, and any financial credit this matter may engender."

Matthews stared down each individual present in room three. After each person nodded their affirmation, seven in total, the judge smiled "Well, I see no reason to prolong things. The paternity test for Mr. Forester came back negative. Ms. Lister is not carrying his child, there for he will not be held accountable for child support."

Naturally, from those words, chaos ensued "I beg your pardon!" Michel Lister screeched out in fury as his daughter whimpered pathetically. The man had stood abruptly, sending his wooden chair clattering to the floor "There's been a mistake! I demand that these proceedings be withheld until the matter may be resolved. Honestly, screwing up a paternity test is inexcusable. Especially, since it was unnecessary to begin with." The Listers all nodded their heads in agreement and looked at the judge expectantly.

Judge Matthew's face turned red, a murderous glint entered his eyes. In a graceful swoop, he stood to his full height and slammed his hands down onto the table "Mister Lister! I will not stand for such ridiculous accusations. No mistake has been made on my side of the proceedings." Matthew lifted an accusing finger at Mr. Lister "Now you will do as I say or I will be forced to have the bailiff remove you from this room once again. Is that understood?"

Michel glared at the judge with unadultered hatred in his eyes "Yes, I understand." He bit out, disgust and resentment dripping from his honey coated voice.

Judge Matthews smiled condescendingly "Good." He pointed his index finger towards the fallen chair "Now sit down and shut up."

Once Mr. Lister was settled once more, the judge cleared his throat "As I was saying, the paternity test for Mr. Forester came back negative and he will not owe child support." Matthews paused, looking at the Listers. Both parents were tight lipped and red faced, the daughter on the other hand was reacting quite differently. Determination swelled within her features.

"As my father has stated, there must be a mistake. I have never cheated on my husband." Lindsay's voice never wavered, and she appeared to be composed. The Foresters snorted derisively. Her act was very believable, Matthew might have bought it. That is, if he hadn't seen the evidence that proved her a liar.

Sighing, the judge shook his head in mild dismay "I was hoping to avoid this… A few weeks back, persuasive evidence was given to me concerning your case. I sent the evidence down to forensics so that it may be validated. The results came back just last week. The court has in its possession a total of twenty-seven mini DV tapes. All of which, portray Ms Lister in a series of various compromising positions, with numerous lovers. Each of these are also date-stamped, and forensics have declared that not one of them has been tampered with. Eleven of these tapes were filmed months prior to Ms. Lister's wedding to Mr. Forrester, the other sixteen within the following year. Thus, the better half of these home videos were filmed during the course of Ms. Lister's marriage."

Silence reigned in the courtroom, as the Mr. and Mrs. Lister stared at the judge flabbergast, "I believe that I need not explain the tapes relevancy to this case. Do I now Ms. Lister?"

Lindsay swallowed thickly, her ashen face frozen in shock and dismay "No, judge Matthews." She answered hesitantly, her voice wavering as tears began to fall from her eyes.

Judge Matthew's gaze flitted around the room. With the exception of Lindsay, the Lister's sat stone-faced. The Foresters on the other hand seemed both disgusted and uncomfortable with the Lister's. He sigh tiredly "Well, I guess that finishes it. Court is adjourned."

"Wait!" Michel Lister screeched out, his voice shaken yet determined "What about the divorce settlement? She's still his wife. Lindsay deserves a substantial compensation after what this ingrate has put her through."Mrs. Lister and Lindsay nodded in agreement, as they glared hatefully at the Foresters. Dean and his family looked at the Lister's with incredulity as the judge rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Given Ms. Lister's promiscuous behavior, and what I have learned from this case, I will grant no divorce settlement on either side. Both Ms. Lister and Mr. Forester we're teenagers when they entered this marriage. The very idea for them to do such a thing at their age was fool hardy. To add to that Ms. Lister never contributed financially, and she entered this marriage with ambiguous reasons. She never had the intention of cultivating a healthy partnership with Mr. Forester, and if I'm not mistaken, neither did he. Either way, this marriage was a sham to begin with, and I will treat it as such. All assets will be divided by their owners. Whoever paid for it gets it, understood?"

* * *

**Thursday November 11 2004, Stars Hollow (Outside Luke's Diner) 10:34 a.m.**

Dean had been experiencing an emotional high ever since his divorce was granted yesterday. He felt that he could accomplish any given feet, and he planned to do many things in the coming days. One of which, was sharing the good news with Rory. With any luck they might be able to sit down and finally hash out their feelings for each other. From afar, Dean spotted Lane speaking with Zack. He needed to speak with her. Rory had changed her number since last summer, and he hadn't been privy to the new one. He was hoping Lane could tell her that he wanted to talk. Dean didn't think it would be a good idea to ambush Rory at her school.

He neared the corner and prepared to call out to Lane. Neither she, nor Zack had noticed his arrival. However, their conversation caught his attention before he could announce his arrival.

"Any news on Rory? Is she still worried about things?" Zack asked.

Lane seemed exasperated with his prodding "She's pregnant with twins Zack. How do you think she's doing. On top of that her grandparents haven't talked to her since…"

Dean bolted away before he could hear the rest of the conversation.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 7th 2013.


	30. Turkey & Sexcapades

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Tuesday, November 16****th**** 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 2:36 p.m.**

Clara glared at her older brother. The overgrown jerk was starting to really get on her nerves. He'd been in a foul mood for days, brooding, and frowning at every little thing. Clara and her parents had tried everything to snap him out of it, but the great oaf remained decidedly unmoved. What's worse, Dean wouldn't even talk! Whoever said the silent treatment was a universal form of manipulation that could be utilized by anyone, obviously hadn't taken her brother into account. Dean looked awfully a lot like a spoiled little child that hadn't gotten his way, and was now sulking to make up the difference. At least, that's what he looked like to her. Clara had even told her mother as much, and had gotten a reprimanding glare for her troubles.

Just what in the world was wrong him? After all, he'd finally gotten the green light for the divorce. The papers were even signed already. All he had to do now was to wait for them to be processed. So why was her brother sulking?

* * *

**Thursday, November 18****th**** 2004, Stars Hollow (Luke's Diner) 11:17 a.m.**

Dean viciously bit into his hamburger. He'd come to Luke's to get away from his family. They'd noticed something was upsetting him, and had long since started shadowing him. It didn't seem to matter in which room of the house he was in, there was always someone else around nearby, staring at him with concerned eyes. He'd finally gotten enough of it when his father had barged into the bathroom to shave whilst Dean took a shower.

He _really _needed to get a new place.

* * *

**Tuesday November 23 2004, Stars Hollow (Town Square) 12:21 p.m.**

Miss Patty, Misses Cassini, and Babbette, were as per usual, congregated in the Town Square. The three women were eagerly dishing out gossip amongst themselves. As of late, the juicer parts revolved around the Forester/ Lister drama. Fresh information, from a reputed source, had surfaced earlier that morning. The ladies were gushing over the news. Miss Patty opened her mouth in order to address her peers. Whatever it was that she wished to say caught in her throat, as her gaze zeroed in a familiar face. Miss Patty's eyes brightened in delight. She was anxious to share the news, "Rory!" Patty began waving her hand enthusiastically, "Come here dear, I have some news."

Curious, the girl in question approached. Rory was glowing, a smile upon her lips. The queens were interested in the girl's happy demeanour. Last they heard the youngest Gilmore had been depressed over a fight with her grandparents. Then again, it could be that the hormones were simply getting the best of the girl.

Rory grinned at Miss Patty, her cheeks rosy from the cold, "Hi Miss Patty, Misses Cassini, Babette. You wanted something?"

"Yes dear," Misses Cassini spoke eagerly, "We were just wandering if you'd heard the news."

Rory features were overcome with confusion, "The news?"

Miss Patty gave Rory a dubious look, "Yes the news. About the Foresters and the Lister's."

A frown appeared on the young girl's face, "Foresters and Lister's? You mean Dean and Lindsay. Is there something wrong?"

All three queens stared at the youth, utterly gob smacked, "Rory, dear…" Miss Patty seemed momentarily lost for words, "You do know about the divorce, right?"

"Divorce?" Rory's frown deepened.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 11:26 a.m.**

The atmosphere was joyful and bright. Thanksgiving had arrived, and a good number of the town citizens had turned up at the Dragon Fly. Of course, so had a handful of outsiders; a fact that Dean was too familiar with. As he sat with his family, Dean could easily see both Emily and Richard Gilmore shooting glares in his direction. He fidgeted nervously, and tried his best to ignore them. Instead, he would focus his gaze upon his surroundings. More often than he'd like to admit, his gaze drifted towards Rory.

Her pregnancy was glaringly obvious by that point. The image alone brought a bitter taste in his mouth, and a tightening in his chest. Dean hadn't wanted to come here, not since he had found out that Rory had moved on with her life. He didn't need to be reminded of that fact. Unfortunately, his family had insisted that they come to this event; although, the reasoning behind their logic escaped him at the moment.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 12:02 p.m.**

Rory was tense. Thanksgiving was turning out to be more stressful than usual. To everyone's great surprise, the Foresters had shown up at the Dragon Fly. Presently, the family of four sat at one of the tables off on the side. They all seem to be chattering away happily, all of them, except Dean. He sat stiffly beside Clara, his jaw clenched as his gaze drifted around the room.

Rory felt sick.

She hadn't had the courage to inform Lorelai of the information she'd unearthed a few days prior. Then again, Rory herself hadn't really digested the information yet. Dean had gotten a divorce, and Lindsay had been cheating on him throughout their relationship. The baby Lindsay was carrying wasn't even Dean's! Rory had spent the last several months agonizing over what she and Dean had done. Now she discovered that Lindsay had been guilty of the same crime. The entire situation unnerved her!

This information changed everything.

Her carefully thought out plans, gone.

Her reason for not telling Dean he'd fathered her children, gone.

By all accounts, the right thing to do, would be to tell Dean the news as quickly as possible. It was wrong for her to keep the information from him in the first place. Rory had always known that. However, at the time, not telling him had seemed to be the safest way to go. It had also been the easiest, and to her dismay, Rory now realized that that fact had factored into her decision.

Rory should take Dean aside, and tell him now. But she couldn't. Try as she might, she couldn't gather the courage to tell him. She was afraid, and in a fit of cowardice, Rory was letting her fear dictate her actions. Which is why, instead of going to Dean, she allowed Lane to pull her off to the side.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 12:37 p.m.**

From his peripheral vision, Dean watched Lane drag Rory off. They disappeared around the corner, and into the hallway. Their path would ultimately lead them to garden out back. He sighed, unsettled by the entire situation. Dean knew very well that the Gilmore girls were oddly attached to snow, but this was ridiculous. It was below zero outside, and the snow was falling hard, blanketing everything in its path. At these temperatures, Rory would catch a cold.

Dean's gaze drifted towards the Gilmore table. He hoped that one of her relatives would go and fetch from the cold. The boy waited several moments, yet no one had seemed to notice the absence of the youngest Gilmore. He bit his lip in frustration, as his gaze shifted towards the hallway.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Dragon Fly Inn) 12:41 p.m.**

Shocked, Lane's eyes widened to comical proportions, "Are you honestly telling me that Dean doesn't know yet?"

The youngest Gilmore fidgeted nervously. Unable to meet her friend's gave, Rory's blue eyes darted around the snow covered grounds. She shivered slightly from the cold and shuffled her feet.

Lane's expression became incredulous, "Seriously?"

"Yes." Rory mumbled reluctantly, and pouted like a child.

The Korean's expression turned sympathetic, "Sweetie, you're going to have to tell him the truth sooner or later. Wouldn't it be best if you told him now?"

Tears swelled in Rory's blue eyes, "I know. I know I should tell him, but I can't seem to build up the nerve for it. I mean, how am I supposed to tell Dean? It's not like I can just go up to him and say, 'Hey Dean, how are you? I heard that you were getting divorced, would our brief but memorable sexcapades have anything to do with it? Speaking of sexcapades, remember our tryst in Miss Patty's dance studio? Well, you left me a couple of souvenirs from that day. I'll be giving birth to your children in a few shorts weeks, and I just thought you should know.' I can just imagine how well that one I'll go over."

Rory broke down sobbing, and Lane attempted to comfort the sobbing Gilmore. Neither woman noticed the shocked individual standing behind them.

"They're mine?" Dean gasped out, his features a medley of conflicting emotions.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 7th 2013.


	31. Snow

******************Author's Note: This currently under review. I will be fixing typos, and deleting passages that made it online as a result of a glitch with some proofreading drafts. Fear not, the passages that I will be deleting were never meant to be published in the first place, and won't affect the storyline in the least. I won't be rewriting anything, for that would be tedious, not to mention time consuming. I started writing this story a few years back, and as such, my writing style has changed somewhat. If I began rewriting some passage, I don't think I could move on without rewriting everything. So, no rewrites for now - I prefer to focus my attention on the story's sequel for now. Otherwise, you may ignore this message from here on out, it will be posted at the beginning of each chapter. **

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:33 p.m.**

Clara glared at the door to her brother's bedroom. Once again, the big oaf was acting like an idiot! And what's worse, her parents agreed with her! Honestly, what was the world coming to! She had to do something about the situation immediately. Being on the same page with her parents for once didn't agree with her at all. Briefly, Clara wondered if her skin was always so itchy, or if the situation was actually causing her to break out in hives. Either way, this had to be dealt with.

With all the grace of an average teenage girl, Clara pounded her tiny fists against the hardwood of door that concealed her brother. Dean opened the door looking like death warmed over. His stupid floppy hair was sticking up every which way, and his eyes were bloodshot. The idiot had clearly been crying, though Dean seemed to have wiped away any evidence of his tears – macho jerk.

Clara scowled at her brother's pity party. Quick as lightning, her little hands darted forward, and grasped the front of Dean's shirt. With all her might, the petite teenage girl yanked the overgrown oaf out of the safe confines of his room.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow, 7:35 p.m.**

The scandal had broken, and the town was abuzz with the news. Dean Forester had gotten Rory Gilmore pregnant! The news had spread like wildfire, shocking both the old and the young. Dean had clearly been married when Rory had gotten pregnant, and the fact left most of the citizens of Stars Hollow in stunned disbelief. After all, most of them had known Rory her entire life, and, merely hours before, would have sworn up and down that Rory Gilmore was not the type of girl to have an affair with a married man.

Left to their own devises, the citizens of Stars Hollow began to do what they did best: gossip. How, when, where, why? Everyone wanted to know, and everyone had their own speculations. The popular theory seemed to be that Dean had been trying to separate from Lindsay for over several months now. Of course, all of this had begun long before Rory had gotten pregnant. After all, there had been a lot of drama involving the Listers and the Foresters over the past several months.

Sceptics had pointed out that the drama had only started in August. Rory, given how far along she was, had obviously been pregnant at that time. Most had conceded that point, yet many believed that maybe the Listers had tried to impede the separation. It wouldn't be surprising considering the sort of rumours currently going around town. Attacking minors, back talking a judge, and threesomes caught on tape? What kind of people were these Listers?

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Lister Residence) 7:36 p.m.**

In their dark little corner of the world, the Listers seethed with anger. Lindsay, confined to her room by her parents, glared down at the small town of Stars Hollow from her perch by the window with an ugly scowl upon her face.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Residence) 7:39 p.m.**

Rory sat in her room staring listlessly at the wall.

She was a mess…her hair remained in disarray while her clothes were rumpled from anxious hands. Her nose was stuffy, and her were eyes red from crying – Dean had walked away...

Rory had tried to explain the situation. She had tried to tell him that she was only looking out for her children's best interest – their children's best interest, but he walked away. Dean didn't want to listen to her. He didn't want to listen to her excuses. Thinking on it now, Rory realised that she had no right to expect him to listen.

Dean was going to be a father, and she'd kept that from him. Rory had kept him away from the twins, and what's worse, she'd done it on purpose. Over the years they had known each other, she had hurt Dean on a number of occasions, as he had with her. But not like this. Never like this. Rory had never seen Dean look so hurt before. She had never seen him look like a wounded puppy: scared, battered, and betrayed. The memory of it turned her stomach. Rory felt like she would vomit, though she doubted she would. Her stomach had run out of stuff to throw up hours ago.

She would just have to settle for dry heaving.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls) 7:41 p.m.**

Dean darted across the room, and stared surprised at Clara.

After being rudely and rather violently removed from his room, Dean had refused to talk about Rory with anyone. His parents had appeared clearly displeased with his decision. However, they couldn't honestly expect him to deal with the situation right now, could they? For Christ sake! He'd just found out that the woman he loved was currently carrying around his kids and hadn't even bothered to tell him! Didn't that allow him a smidgen of time to grieve?

Clara on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. She huffed, and she puffed, and she growled – actually growled at him! Dean had finally done it! Clara was going nuclear. He didn't relish the thought of being in her war path, let alone her sole target. Dean and his parents braced themselves for the impact, yet, it never came. They watched in disbelief as Clara turned and walked away.

The three stared at each other in utter confusion. Then and there Dean should have known something was up. Clara never backed down from a good fight. In fact, he often thought that she derived some sort of odd pleasure from said fights. Dean was so entranced with his musings, he never saw it coming. With a war cry that would make any warlord worth his salt proud, Clara lunged at him...

His sister hadn't backed out of a fight, she'd simply gone to fetch a broom – and that is how he'd gotten himself in this situation. Being chased around the house, as his sister armed with a broom, tried her best to maim him.

Dean did the only thing he could think of. He ducked to the left, yanked his coat off the coat rack, and ran out of the house. The patio was covered in snow. In his haste to get away from his manic sister, and her weapon of choice, he slipped, stumbled, and landed in a pile of the fluffy white crystals.

Staring down at her older brother sprawled out on the freezing ground, covered in a layer of sparkling snow, Clara huffed. With a dramatic flair, she rolled her eyes, lowered her broom, and walked back into the house. The front door slammed shut with loud bang.

A second later, Dean heard her lock the door.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls) 7:44 p.m.**

Dean breathed heavily, still shocked at all that had transpired in a few short hours. He'd learned that he was going to be a father, and that Rory had kept that fact from him. He'd suffered the unbearable pain that had come as an aftermath of gaining that knowledge. And to top it off, he'd been chased out of the family home by his little sister – with a broom. Yet, despite all this, it wasn't until he stared up at the night sky, up at the snow coming down towards him, that he came upon an important realisation...

He was an idiot.

* * *

**Thursday November 25 2004, Stars Hollow (Forester Residence) 7:48 p.m.**

Rory slowly made her way to the living room. Her mother had come to fetch her out of her room. Lorelai said she had a visitor. Rory tried to tell her that she was hardly in the mood for visitors, yet, stubborn as always, Lorelai wouldn't concede. Rory kept her gaze locked on the floor; she hoped her lack of interest would convince her ill timed guest to leave her the hell alone.

"Hi Rory," Dean said softly. He wasn't all that confident that he would be welcomed after he'd just walked away earlier that afternoon.

Rory's bloodshot eyes widened in shock, "Dean, what..."

Dean sighed, looking ashamed of himself, "We need to talk."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last edited September 7th 2013.


End file.
